How does it go.. nothing to hide, nothing to fear.
The crafty Defence Force has waited five days to respond and then turn around and say it was the wrong village. How’s their fact checking, seeing they lost the ‘report’?
Did they wait five days because Parliament was sitting last week and not sitting this week?
This story is not going away. If it is not dealt with in the form of a fully independent inquiry, it will leave a stain on the reputation of our military and NZ as a whole.
Right now the NZDF and Government are trying to back pedal to a point where they can save some face. To me it is too late for that. They had 7 years to front foot it properly.
I liked Marianne Elliott on Q+A in the weekend in answer to the accusation that Hit and Run was politically motivated… that what we are dealing with here is a political cover up.
I’m still furious about Key’s final speech. What a lot of ghost-written bollocks ! There are many current horror stories out there of working conditions and parents sacrificing themselves for their kids including tangata whenua, polynesian, hindu, chinese, philipino, tamil among others, reflecting increasing complexity in Aotearoa. Parliament needs to reflect *them*, not just the chattering classes.
He means the fact that there weren’t any insurgents in the village they attacked. Quite a failure of ‘fact checking’ that one.
Srylands is just reflexively supporting established power again. That’s what the authoritarian right does
“The Māori Party has spearheaded a new bill proposing major changes to the governance and administration of the 27,000 titles of Māori land in New Zealand, which equate to 6 percent of the country’s total land mass.
But its new ally, Mana Party leader Hone Harawira has called the Te Ture Whenua Māori Bill “a poisonous and destructive cancer”.”
I guess wisdom comes with age. I experienced [suffered] both sensible and stupid corporal punishment in my youth and it is obvious to me it is a serious lack in the dragging up of children today as evidenced by the events which caused Winston to speak out for the return of discipline.
But sadly the biggest problem is the pre-dominence of female teachers who are incapable and prefer to deprive children of education rather than a little bit of discipline to show the children what is right and what is wrong in a way to be remembered.
jcuknz….. pleeeze female teachers are to blame…. maybe the sensible and stupid corporal punishment in your youth did some serious damage to your future intellectual state….
And she’s right. There is no way to be (so-called) fiscally responsible and also be socially responsible. The thing that really gets me about so-called fiscal responsibility is that it’s highly irresponsible – people suffer and people die when ledgers are held up as more important than people.
I actually think that the ‘business plan’ Gareth Morgan has tabled through TOPs has more to offer struggling people and does more to address imbalances of wealth than anything this straight jacket Labour and the Greens want the country to don can ever achieve.
Anyway. It’s looking like mana for me. And if that turns out to be a wasted vote, then hey. (I simply won’t vote in favour of getting a kicking)
Where have Labour or the Greens said that the ledger is more important than people? Shaw was pretty clear that it was the other way round.
“There is no way to be (so-called) fiscally responsible and also be socially responsible.”
So people said the other day and when I asked for an explanation of that what I got was lines of ideology. The framing of one vs the other and never the twain shall meet looks like a political stance rather than an absolute truth.
There was an entire post done just the other day that laid out their ‘fiscally responsible’ position. Y’know? All that b/s around debt being held to 20% of GDP etc?
I’m at a loss to understand what it is you’re not grasping. There are only two ways governments raise monies to spend on social programmes.
One way is through taxation. The other is through borrowing.
Obviously, if debt is being paid down then there’s no borrowing or only very limited borrowing. Meanwhile, revenue from taxation that’s paying down debt isn’t going to social spending.
In a situation where an economy has slowed, that diversion of a lower tax take to pay down debt is disastrous – it’s a liberal economic prescription that both Labour and the Greens have pledged to adhere to and it’s otherwise known as austerity.
The non-liberal prescription (the responsible avenue) is to borrow and supplement any tax take and then allocate the monies for various social expenditures. And only pay down debt when the debt to GDP ratio has naturally fallen as the consequence of increased GDP.
In other words, what Labour and the Greens should be saying is that their government will invest in schools and health and whatever infrastructure and services are required for the general welfare of NZ, and that debt will be only be paid down if and when favourable economic conditions prevail.
Well thanks for finally putting out an alternative positioning. Doesn’t high debt place us at increasing risk internationally?
What you appear to be saying is that if we have unfavourable conditions that on the basis of this policy the Greens would throw social services under a bus. I just don’t see the evidence for that (and I’m pretty sure Matthew addressed this issue in the last round).
The Greens are in favour of increasing govt income via taxation btw.
On the second point, if monies are being used to pay down debt, then that can only come at the expense of social spending. Yes, given less money, health could be prioritised over roads. But regardless of what you may think of roads, the fact remains that less money is being spent into society in favour of giving that money over to debt repayment.
Increasing taxation when debt servicing is taking priority doesn’t really do much. If an economy is shrinking then the debt/GDP ration tends to climb no matter how much money is being raised to be thrown at the debt.
Just listened and what I heard Bradford saying is that the Greens have sold out… because. She doesn’t actually explain other than to say that business support the policy and that the policy will explicitly mean no social spending, but she doesn’t say how or why. She also says that they (both parties I guess) haven’t made any policy announcements regarding social spending, which I find quite extraordinary given that for the last couple of years the Greens have spoken and acted on this repeatedly.
At the end she gets a bit better where she makes a comparison with Labour in the 2000s and how they tinkered around the edges with social policy. And I agree there is a danger here for that to happen again, which is why we need the ratio of L to G MPs to be as even as possible so that the Greens have the power to push the govt left. It would be way better if we looked at what Clark’s govt did and compare it to what L/G now are intending and see what is similar and what is different. At the moment I’m just seeing a lot of reaction with little analysis.
I understand where Bradford is coming from. She didn’t get the opportunity to elaborate. But she is saying the economic agreement signals no change from how the Labour Party operated in 2000-2007: ie tinkering around the edges, and delivering a situation where the Nats, once in power again, can shift things even further rightwards.
Bradford particularly pointed out the way the latest Labour-Green agreement aims to get business onside as a priority, rather than address the pressing issues for the struggling Kiwis they should be supporting as a priority.
If we prompt New Zealand voters to think about money first, they aren’t going to think about common good, about ensuring their neighbours have a good life too. They’re going to think “actually, getting another block of cheese each week does sound good” and the right’s fourth term is secured. They don’t even have to work for it, because when we explicitly buy into their values, it weakens our own.
It cuts out the heart of our politics.
I think Bradford’s RNZ interview opens the way for the logic of a new left wing party. That may be where her thinking is headed. She tried Mana, so what else is there?
I agree with both Sue and Stephanie’s analysis but the answer is not another left-wing party – the answer is to try and influence the leftish parties we have. You don’t have to join them to do that – you can lobby relentlessly with well researched material directed at any of the MPs who may be sympathetic.
It takes too long to get a party to the stage where it can have a significant political role – Mana tried but IMO made a fatal error getting involved with Kim Dotcom and lost the momentum it had. A huge amount of energy went into Mana and it is hard to keep up the support from volunteers without any sign that they are getting anywhere.
Agree, Karen. But I think that’s maybe where Bradford’s thinking is going. Although, she also does a very good job of holding Labour & the Greens to account.
which is why we need the ratio of L to G MPs to be as even as possible so that the Greens have the power to push the govt left
But the Greens have just signed up to this notion of having debt sit at no more than 20% of GDP. You can’t really get any more non- left than that. (I mean, sure, yo could go for 10% or 5% – but the whole point is that the focus they’re applying to debt is absolutely a right wing focus – liberal)
Even if that were true (and that’s not quite how it was framed in the document), they’re still to the left of every other party in parliament. And that one aspect of what the Greens are doing doesn’t shift their whole kaupapa and policy platform to the right of centre. So having maximum MPs in parliament will give them more chance of moving Labour in the direction of Green Party policy (by all means try and make the argument that GP policy is largely right wing).
I’m not sure what you expect given that Labour are going to run a neoliberal govt albeit a centre left one. Seriously, since the announcement was made I’ve yet to see a credible alternative presented (haven’t read the CTU one yet). Stephanie had a go by saying that they should have focussed on people not finances, but it still doesn’t address the issue of needing the business community on board to govern, and needing to present as credible to get that chunk of the electorate who vote on credibility over the cluster fuck that has been Labour for the past decade.
On climate change alone that’s critical, because the only other option is a 4th term NACT govt. Bradford obviously thinks that being liked by the business community is the end of the world. I think it’s just a natural consequence of lefties not voting Green while they were still radical and the Greens now positioning themselves where they can do the most good within the limitations they’re presented with. Personally I think it’s a piece of leftie bullshit to condemn them on this, because they’re damned if they do and damned if they don’t.
The Greens don’t sit neatly into the left/right box you want to frame them in. They’ll use the tools available to them, but I’m guessing you are looking at the policy within a conventional political framework as well as not looking at it within the broader actions of the Greens.
It’s been stated, alluded to and presented over and over again. Focus on necessary social investment. Borrow to fund that if necessary.
Debt levels do not matter. They really don’t. All this nonsense about a need to pay it down is absolute ideological tosh that, if followed through on, inflicts huge amounts of damage on society and people.
Recent and less recent history is awash with ugly real world examples of what happens when debt repayment takes precedence over social investment.
Even if that were true (and that’s not quite how it was framed in the document), they’re still to the left of every other party in parliament.
No they are not.
And that one aspect of what the Greens are doing doesn’t shift their whole kaupapa and policy platform to the right of centre.
Yes it does.
So having maximum MPs in parliament will give them more chance of moving Labour in the direction of Green Party policy (by all means try and make the argument that GP policy is largely right wing).
All their policies are beholden to or limited by their economic positioning. And that’s unabashedly liberal – something they just ‘officially’ signed up to and crowed about the other day.
I’m not sure what you expect given that Labour are going to run a neoliberal govt albeit a centre left one. Seriously, since the announcement was made I’ve yet to see a credible alternative presented (haven’t read the CTU one yet).
See the other reply I made.
Stephanie had a go by saying that they should have focussed on people not finances, but it still doesn’t address the issue of needing the business community on board to govern, and needing to present as credible to get that chunk of the electorate who vote on credibility over the cluster fuck that has been Labour for the past decade.
If the belief is that business being on board is more important than people being on board, then they’re lost (and will hopefully sink without a trace soon)
On climate change alone that’s critical, because the only other option is a 4th term NACT govt. Bradford obviously thinks that being liked by the business community is the end of the world. I think it’s just a natural consequence of lefties not voting Green while they were still radical and the Greens now positioning themselves where they can do the most good within the limitations they’re presented with. Personally I think it’s a piece of leftie bullshit to condemn them on this, because they’re damned if they do and damned if they don’t.
Some might view your loyalty to ‘the party’ as noble. But blaming voters for a political party’s shortcomings isn’t flash. Neither is any attempt to play some minor fear card (Nat term no. 4) , because that’s usually a precursor to some ultimatum on the need to ‘vote for the lesser evil’ or you’re a part of the problem nonsense.
The Greens don’t sit neatly into the left/right box you want to frame them in. They’ll use the tools available to them, but I’m guessing you are looking at the policy within a conventional political framework as well as not looking at it within the broader actions of the Greens.
Left and right are economic concepts. The Greens have announced they will adhere to right wing (liberal) economic demands.
I agree with Sue Bradford with the anti smacking laws, but not on her opinions on the Greens MoU with Labour. The greens should push Labour centre left which is where Labour need to be (but in the right areas).
I’d also like to see Mana get through. That’s MMP, just as we have the far right ideology from National and ACT we need to have some balance from the far left. What is missing in NZ debate is fresh ideas and how to deal with 21st century issues especially globalism.
A Chinese bidder for the rail link is proposing to possibly house 1000’s of workers in a cruise ship. Previously, infrastructure projects paid for by NZ tax payers would be good, creating local jobs and opportunities, nowadays, infrastructure projects seem to do the opposite with cheaper workers from overseas being bought in to ‘work’, quality questionable (trains full of asbestos), housing and rents escalating with the amount of ‘new’ workers flooding in, more transport issues from the ‘new’ workers and their families seem to be coming too, and their health, education needs being met by local taxpayers and often bankrupting local businesses with the noise and disruption caused by the 6 years of construction around them.
At the end of the day most of the profits from the infrastructure project go off shore to the parent company. NZ gets little from it and most local people are worse off. Then they ask the local people still employed to stump up more taxes to pay for it all these important infrastructure projects.
My concerns about Labour and Greens is that are still in denial about the actual real effects on local people under globalism and they still think about it in terms of 20th century globalism. Going rah rah to globalism in the 21st century seems akin to forcing inequality on the local community.
Personally I think the Chinese would be amenable for these concerns because they look to the long term relationship, not the short term like the Natz.
Another term of the Natz will be the death for anybody renting, Maori, the environment and hollowing out the middle class further and escalating housing, transport, immigration scams and pollution crisis.
Politicians need to look around them at the US, UK and what normal people are telling them – the messages that are resonating – because people want free borders and selected immigration, but not some free for all that turns their day to day life into a noise, pollution filled, insecure work, struggle. Politicians need to rethink globalism and do proper accounting both financially and socially – before it leads to more climate change and societal disruption.
Their obligation should be to their own citizens not global opportunities for the .1% and an ideology that works like a Ponzi scheme.
They also need to factor in, those local people become more desperate, or who have never had a proper job and now can’t even access welfare. The government war on P for example is a joke!
We wouldn’t need to be building more prisons and having more police, if society starts to give young people a decent upbringing (not a massive percentage living below the poverty line) and a real job to go to at the end of it!
And I’m not talking about a minimum waged job on zero hour contracts.
And angry violent parents who are regularly using ‘reasonable force’ to beat their kids is not going to turn these kids around, quite the opposite.
Many people were detained today. This is understandable – thieves are so protective of themselves. But all those who can not be detained against corruption. We are millions.
Много людей задержали сегодня. Это понятно – воры так защищают себя. Но всех, кто против коррупции задержать нельзя. Нас миллионы.— Alexey Navalny (@navalny) March 26, 2017
Много людей задержали сегодня. Это понятно – воры так защищают себя. Но всех, кто против коррупции задержать нельзя. Нас миллионы.
On March 26, an anti-corruption action took place across Russia, the reason for which was the investigation of the Anti-Corruption Foundation about Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. On the streets were thousands of people (and in Moscow, apparently, more than ten thousand); Hundreds of them were detained by the police (the majority – again, in Moscow). One of the main features of today’s rallies is how massively they turned out in the regions. “Medusa” shows how anti-corruption actions looked in Vladivostok, Novosibirsk, Kirov, Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk – and in many other cities.
Yep still an underbelly of violence in our society. Weak selfish people who are still scared to deal with their own stuff so instead they take it out on children – yuck.
I dont quite understand the point of that marty.
Are you perhaps suggesting that those who think the anti smacking legislation was bad lawmaking that has not reduced violence against kids, are somhow engaging in or promoting violence against kids?
Certainly that was a strong campaign theme at the time that was harmful and improper then as it would be now.
If someone is a pro smacker and wants the law reversed then imo that is evidence that there is stuff that need to work on in a personal way and they should be given the resources and education to work through that stuff rather than smacking.
what about someone who is “anti smacker” and wants the law changed?
I think you are trying to deny the existence of these people!
my point is that Winston believes they exist and some of them will vote NZF for no other reason then to say “we exist”
There was and is no ‘anti-smacking’ legislation. There was legislation that removed the defence that was used by some charged with physical assaults on children.
this is what we are discussing
New section 59 substituted
Section 59 is repealed and the following section substituted:
“59 Parental control
“(1) Every parent of a child and every person in the place of a parent of the child is justified in using force if the force used is reasonable in the circumstances and is for the purpose of—
“(a) preventing or minimising harm to the child or another person; or
“(b) preventing the child from engaging or continuing to engage in conduct that amounts to a criminal offence; or
“(c) preventing the child from engaging or continuing to engage in offensive or disruptive behaviour; or
“(d) performing the normal daily tasks that are incidental to good care and parenting.
“(2) Nothing in subsection (1) or in any rule of common law justifies the use of force for the purpose of correction.
“(3) Subsection (2) prevails over subsection (1).
“(4) To avoid doubt, it is affirmed that the Police have the discretion not to prosecute complaints against a parent of a child or person in the place of a parent of a child in relation to an offence involving the use of force against a child, where the offence is considered to be so inconsequential that there is no public interest in proceeding with a prosecution.”
looking at this my opinion is
1 the whole thing has been horribly misrepresented (by parties for and against!) and winston is poised to take advantage of that
2 section 4 is just wrong!
(1) Every parent of a child and, subject to subsection (3), every person in the place of the parent of a child is justified in using force by way of correction towards the child, if the force used is reasonable in the circumstances.
Repealing the act that repealed the above legalises smacking.
That is why I say people who even use the term anti-smacking just like violence against children. The promote it by the use of the term, and want to perpetuate it by deliberate misleading the public, and debasing the debate.
It is a argument by some people who have no power, and get their jollies by beating up little children. I really do wish we lived in a society that was beyond that sort of thing.
But it would appear, that the child beaters want another round of us reminding them that they are, the scum of the earth.
“There was legislation that removed the defence that was used by some charged with physical assaults on children.”
that is also my recall that this was prompted by a series of cases where sec 59 was sucessfully used as a defense where children surffered injury.
1 I have a very dim view of lawmakers and laws that are a response to specific cases
2 at the time it was also suggested that sec 59 could have been altered somehow thus
“nothing in sec 1 shall be a defense where physical or mental harm is caused to a child.” Not proposing that as “the solution” just suggesting that that was maby not sufficiently explored.
But to get back to my first post, It looks like Winston is positioning NZF to collect on the flustercluck that was the passing of this amendment and perhaps continuing to deligitimise , misrepresent , and demonise those who hold a different view on it might not serve “the left” here.
Oh and just to be completely clear I am personally opposed to any form of violence as a “correction” , which includes much of what happens in our “corrections” services!
How long can our high waged Auckland economy continue to be able to pay these prices for 366m2 sections ?? Yes $815k starting from !!! Or a 425m2 for $869k http://www.realestate.co.nz/3039262 http://www.realestate.co.nz/3039270 http://www.realestate.co.nz/3028664
And No I am not a realestate agent using this has a means of target marketing my properties to all you wealthy land owners at The Std.
Hate to be The Govt if cards should tumble, and there are signs of tremors being felt in Jafaland.
I was buying my own kit back in 90’s, hell we had to buy cam nets for our V8 Landrovers and even had to make our gun mounts for the GPMG’s / LSW C9’s so its not new.
If we want spare parts for the V8 Landrovers we went to the wreckers yard on Blenheim Rd in CHCH as it was quicker than ordering thru the system.
Were you reimbursed at all? Because if my employer expected me to fork out for the equipment I use for my job, I’d be presenting him with a bundle of receipts.
Nope, we were joking about it at reunion last Apr in Dunedin when some wag produced a couple of receipts (Doyles Ex Army Supplies in Manchester St I think) and I think we would’ve been wasting our time anyway. Things got real bad when OP Raidan kick off, but’s another story.
In Oz I can claim any kit that I buy back on tax, but I must admit my Macpac Bivi bag I brought back mids 90’s CHCH is still going strong after all years before Macpac move manufacturing overseas in the late 90s. Can’t knock NZ made goods when you can get it.
Agree. If we are going to order soldiers into harms way, then they should have the best gear possible.
However I do not think we should be ordering them to protect US corporate profits.
“If we are going to order soldiers into harms way, then they should have the best gear possible.”
We are always lending/ loaning the NZDF some of our kit for deployments or even for a bog standard exercise here in Oz either because NZDF has short fall in their SOE, don’t have the equipment full stop or they had to leave it behind as the Aircraft maxed out due to weight issues and hope catches up with on the next flight whenever that might be. Mind you when we come to NZ they loan us their cold weather gear as we don’t get that white stuff called snow in 95% of our training areas here in Oz.
Why does Winston want a referendum? We had one with an overwhelming result.
More money wasted on ‘consultation’ when the ‘people’ have spoken against the stupid law.
The Greens want a capital gains tax, generally but also specifically to address that aspect of the Ak housing crisis. They also want to reduce income tax by using a carbon tax to pay for government spending (can’t remember how that exactly works, you can look it up).
A capital gains tax is not the answer often their are so many ways for rich people to avoid it. If they really want to tax property they need something that is unrelated to a person’s income tax – more like a stamp duty which is pretty difficult to avoid not matter how rich you are.
A person that invests millions in property in NZ, does not live here and just never sells would not pay any tax under the capital gains model and that is increasingly what NZ is going to look like with offshore corporates taking over the rental supply. Let alone pretending to live there to avoid it etc etc.
UK has capital gains taxes, stamp duty, 17.5 VAT and still a massive housing shortage.
In fact the UK have every tax under the sun apart from a financial transaction tax.
They subscribe to the foreign investment model of anybody in the world being able to purchase a property in the UK.
Capital gains is 20th century thinking. They need to switch it up to what is really going on under globalism and why inequality is increasing.
Maybe a shift from taxing income from labour to taxing income from capital? Purely taxing wealth you need to be careful about people who are income poor but have wealth due to stupidly inflated asset values such as housing.
In any case I despair at the way TOP have stupidly discredited the whole idea by wanting to tax people on the value of their own family home, not just their ‘investment’ properties. Only an ex-neoliberal purist like Morgan could do something so unappealing to the public. (It makes me think he may not be so ‘ex’ after all)
The tax on the home (that he sees as an investment) would be a given percentage of something like 5% of its value with an initial value exempt from the tax altogether. And (the claim is) that cost would be more than off-set for the vast majority by a concomitant cut in income tax…and phased in over time so people can adjust their circumstances accordingly.
Now, I don’t think it’s perfect and I agree it might result in a few unfair cases coming to light (big house and no income). But then, what we have now is diabolically unfair to swathes of people who have no room for maneuver.
The family home cannot be excluded.
That just makes for a loophole that wealthy people can drive a bus through.
Ordinary home owners will be better off with TOP’s policy as the housing taxes will be offset by income tax/GST decreases.
To Bearded Git: In your comments when using the term investor, you are including/excluding which groups? eg. people on a visa permit, overseas students, etc
The statistics are clear: fewer Kiwis are living in their own home – more Kiwis are renting. The home ownership rate has been falling since a peak in the early 1990s and is now at the lowest level since 1946 (using my estimates to update 2013 Census data). There has been no improvement in making houses more affordable. There has been no tangible improvement in renting. In places like Auckland, the average rent is over a quarter of gross income of an average family.
If it goes ahead, it will be the second time the minister has faced Salisbury-related legal action. Parata first attempted to close the school in 2012 but lost in the High Court.”
Rock on Salisbury School 😀 Proud of you all.
Salisbury would like parents and educationalists from across New Zealand to come forward with any stories of trying but failing to get a student into the IWS.
The baby boomer mafia and winston peters have really sunk to a new low.
Apparently because I was never given the bash by my parents i should be out robbing dairys because anyone who doesnt get hidings is a sociopath.
Mental!
Just like how banning begging gets rid of poverty and kicking people off of benifits doesn’t increase homeless.
The cradle to the grave generation who pulled the ladder up on every forth coming generation so we couldn’t receive the help they did. … this generation. …
They say we need to raise the pension age but not till they are all dead….
Ya own all the homes, never had to havea student loan and now you want us to work an extra two years but not you….
Oooh wouldn’t they be in for a shock once us millennials realized what a con they’ve played on us.
We have some of the lowest elderly poverty in the oecd world and highest childhood poverty. Mental.
Hard to find any common ground witj a generation that thinks greed is good and that everyone needs to harden up and wants to bash the kids.
Paul has a guest post on the Daily Blog today. He is introduced as the bloke who was banned from the Standard for three years for suggesting that left, liberals and progressives should work together to change the government. This is not how I recall it at all. I thought it was more to do with misrepresenting an author. Probably won’t bother going there for a while.
I have a friend who spent some time talking about how happy they were after their breakup, not bovvered at all, yet somehow what the ex was doing always managed to sneak back into the discussion. That somehow seems relevant 🙂
*they’re better now, I’m pleased to report. It’s a process.
It will be odd for those who get serious about fully insulating their homes in order to conserve energy, and install solar water heating. Their drop in electricity use will be penalised by having to pay much more for electricity. So the best action for Electricity Suppliers is for us to use heaps of power, leave the windows open, tear out insulation, have long showers and pay huge power bills.
Of course the more people who use solar energy the longer the power delivery system would have before paying for upgrades. Surely?
But this is the free market mate, its more efficient this way /sarc
I think that its the owners (overseas fund managers) of our transmission network protecting their (not ours) investment. but hey we need investment. dont we?
antoine go to their website and look at the bio,s of these people. They got us into this mess in the first place. We have a revolvind door industry executivepolicy advisors situation here. what they are doing is immoral and anti democratic. Their “reports” are not intended to inform at all but to influence policy for their personal and sector profit.
> So the best action for Electricity Suppliers is for us to use heaps of power
That’s right, you can’t expect an old style electricity supplier to encourage you to use less power (Although some of them actally do)
> Of course the more people who use solar energy the longer the power delivery system would have before paying for upgrades. Surely?
No, solar on its own won’t delay upgrades to the power network, because the sun doesnt shine at the times when we need power most. Solar + battery is another matter.
I love how they’ve mastered the art of feigning concern for the poor. “This new electricity technology will harm poor people… the very same people we don’t give a toss about for 364 days of the year, but today, and because we’re being paid a lot of money, please join us in doing a terrible job of pretending to feel sympathy for the less fortunate. Thank you.”
I had a look at it. No, it’s not a hit on renewable energy. It’s pointing out some problems with the way electricity is priced. For instance, if someone had an electric car, there’s not enough incentive for them to charge it overnight (as opposed to evening when the demand for power is highest).
in my new home, we had a holiday home rented by out of townees for a week.
the first night they were at said property they started a fire, at 4.30 am the alarm goes of, and Mr. Voluntary Firefighter drives of screeching tires into the night.
Several hours later he comes back with the news that hey could not save the house, but managed to save the property next door, that there is a report of two people missing and they were hoping that ones it was save to go into the wreck they would not find these two guys and their dogs. – they did not in the end to the relieve of everyone.
Figures the fire was lit deliberately, the guys were cooking meth, somehow a fire started and they could not stop it (fire extinguisher near by the initial burn site), so they started a fire in each room and ran away.
Two days later a big headline in the local rural paper….Coppers found a dozen of marijuana plants and took them off the market ohmygosh the war on certain drugs is working. !!!!!!!!!!
If you want to study propagandist techniques, you are typically told to study Dictatorships. Not unfair, but what’s always been more interesting to me is so-called “democratic” countries and their broader information systems.Why? Because people opt for it, even as they decry “totalitarian regimes!”.. It’s quite an eye ...
Introducing legislation which shits on the public's right to know seems to have become a daily occurrence for this government. Today's example is the Infrastructure Funding and Financing Bill. The bill establishes a framework for the establishment of "special purpose vehicles" (SPVs) to hide debt from local government balance sheets ...
Below is the longlist of words and phrases generated in the korero phase of Public Address Word of the Year 2019, with some editorial moderation. Now it's time to vote. As you'll doubtless be able to see, you get three ranked choices. Use your power wisely. Or frivolously, whatever.As usual, ...
The University of Waikato and New Zealand Law Foundation have released a report today on the law around encryption in New Zealand. There's stuff in there about principles and values, and how proposed government policies to provide for "lawful access" by creating backdoors would destroy the trust which makes encryption ...
A ballot for two Member's Bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Insurance (Prompt Settlement of Claims for Uninhabitable Residential Property) Bill (Stuart Smith) Social Security (Exemption for Ex Gratia and Compensation Payments) Amendment Bill (Willow-Jean Prime) Neither bill seems likely to be particularly controversial. This is ...
Earlier in the month, Bougainvilleans went to the polls in a landmark referendum to decide on whether they would remain part of Papua New Guinea or become independent. Yesterday, the results came in, with over 97% support for independence. The referendum wasn't binding - instead it means negotiations with the ...
by Daphna Whitmore This week 800 unionised bus drivers in Auckland were suspended from work after they refused to collect fares as part of a campaign of industrial action. Drivers working for Auckland’s largest bus company NZ Bus are asking for more pay and better working conditions after being offered ...
As details emerge about what unfolded on Whakaari / White Island two days ago, my thoughts go out to all the families affected by this terrible event. My thoughts are also with the first responders who worked in perilous circumstances to assist and protect those affected. Both local and ...
BMG research have unleashed their final poll of the 2019 campaign:Westminster voting intention: CON: 41% (-)LAB: 32% (-)LDEM: 14% (-)GRN: 4% (-)BREX: 3% (-1)via @BMGResearch , 06 - 11 Dec Chgs. w/ 06 Dec That's a bit of a "Dunno why we bothered" sort of poll. "Phillip, I'm afraid I've been a ...
Grant Keeps On Trucking: Out of the $12 billion Robertson has announced for infrastructure investment, $8 billion will be allocated to specific projects, with the balance of $4 billion held in reserve. What does it say about this Government's "transformational" ambitions that 85 percent of that $8 billion is to ...
I am not making this up.First few lines of the Dail Mail write up:Boris Johnson's exasperated media minder swore on live TV today as the PM refused to speak to Good Morning Britain before trotting into a fridge as he started an early milkround in Yorkshire. Piers Morgan was visibly ...
In previous elections pollsters have bemoaned the 'shy Tory' - the respondent who is so fearful of being judged as a cruel and heartless bastard by an anonymous pollster, or their spouses, workmates and friends, that they lie about their intention of voting Conservative, skewing the poll figures in Labour's ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzI was in Switzerland recently and discovered that they haven’t ...
So, You Gov's MRP poll - the weird one that tries to reflect what will happen at a constituency level and which pretty much nailed the hung parliament in 2017 - is not looking too good for Labour:
We've known about climate change for over forty years now,and it has been a major political issue for twenty. And yet fossil fuel companies have kept polluting with impunity, while government have looked the other way and twiddled their thumbs and refused to do anything because "the economy", or just ...
Sheer Loopiness: Many of those expressing bemusement at the antics of these #turnardern effacers, were convinced that they were yet another expression of the National Party’s increasingly spiteful anti-government propaganda campaign. They marvelled at the oddness of the perpetrators’ mindset and questioned the common-sense of allowing the rest of New Zealand ...
Brad Scott, GNS Science VolcanologistThis post was originally published by GeoNet.Following the 9 December devastating eruption at Whakaari/White Island we have put together some information about the island. New Zealand’s most active volcano Whakaari/White Island is currently New Zealand’s most active volcano, it has been since an eruptive episode ...
The Justice Committee has reported back on its Inquiry into the 2017 General Election and 2016 Local Elections, with a host of recommendations about how to improve our electoral systems. Some of their recommendations are already incorporate din the Electoral Amendment Bill currently before Parliament, but there's also a recommendation ...
Back in 2017, in order to make themselves "electable" in the eyes of rich people who oppose everything they stand for, the Greens signed up for NeoLiberalism, adopting a restrictive set of "Budget Responsibility Rules" which basicly prevented them from using government to make things better. Now, they're finally abandoning ...
Since invading in 2001, the US has consistently claimed that their war in Afghanistan has been going well, even when it continued year after year after year. Of course, they were lying, and thanks to the Washington Post and the US Freedom of Information Act, we get to see just ...
How should we think about artificial intelligence and the implications that it has for our work and leisure? There are many articles on artificial intelligence and its potential impacts on jobs, and the ethics of applications. These are important topics, but I want to focus on some less discussed aspects, ...
I love data. It’s amazing the sort of “discoveries” I can make given a data set and computer statistical package. It’s just so easy to search for relationships and test their statistical significance. Maybe relationships which ...
The other big story concerning Leeds Hospital is Boris Johnson's bizzare behaviour at Leeds Hospital, where he was confronted by a journalist and challenged about a four year old boy with suspected pneumonia who was left sleeping on the floor, rather than getting abed like a sick kid would in ...
So, for a brief period of history, it was alleged that a protester had punched Matt Hancock's SPAD (not a euphemism; special adviser) when Hancock visited Leeds Hospital.This was reported by the likes of Robert Peston and Laura Keunssberg, as well as the less credible Guido Fawkes. It also quickly ...
by Daphna Whitmore Last week France passed a law that equates anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism. It is based on a definition of anti-Semitism that includes criticism of Israel such as: “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist ...
Over the past year we've seen major bus problems in Hamilton and Wellington, as drivers have sought better wages and an end to the bullshit of split shifts, which basicly see them "married to the job". And now its Auckland's turn. When NZBus's drivers planned low-level strike action of not ...
The government has been congratulating itself over the passage of the Zero Carbon Act, which sets out long-term emissions targets. But those targets are insufficient. Meanwhile, Denmark is showing us how its done:Denmark’s parliament adopted a new climate law on Friday, committing to reach 70% below its 1990 emissions in ...
Another day, another piece of legislation with a secrecy clause. This time its the innocuous-seeming Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Bill, which (after establishing a new body and making it subject to the OIA in three different ways) includes the rapidly-becoming-standard clauses enabling it to request information from other public ...
The state of the United Kingdom is fractured, torn up, shredded. The Empire is gone, it died a long time ago. And yet, the country is still tracking with a lead in favour of the ones who play to the ingrained, class-bound division for political gain. It is a disgrace ...
On 27 September, Greta Thunberg addressed a crowd of 500,000 at the School Strike for Climate in Montreal, saying: “You are a nation that is allegedly a climate leader. And Sweden is also a nation that is allegedly a climate leader. And in both cases, it means absolutely nothing. Because ...
It should be obvious by now but let’s be clear: The same folk who regularly traffic in disinformation, misinformation and “fake news” are also those who most strongly claim that their freedom of expression rights are being violated when moves are made to curb hate speech (as opposed to protected ...
Michael SchulsonWhen Shane Burcaw flies on an airplane, he brings along a customized gel cushion, a car seat, and about 10 pieces of memory foam. The whole arsenal costs around $1,000, but for Burcaw it’s a necessity. The 27-year-old author and speaker — who, alongside his fiancée, Hannah ...
We are very pleased to publish this submission is from Lucinda Stoan. She is a social justice activist, mother, and educator, based in Washington State in the US. This detailed and comprehensive source-linked overview of trans issues and what is at stake will be useful for many people, especially in ...
New Zealand's Underarm Banker: It bears recalling that the “independence” of the Reserve Bank Governor was for decades held up by neoliberal capitalists as the most compelling justification for passing the Reserve Bank Act. Interesting, is it not, how the ruling class’s support for the Bank’s independence lasted no longer than ...
Rubbish In, Rubbish Out: Put all this together, and it’s difficult to avoid the conclusion that anyone who responds positively to a pollster’s request to “answer a few questions” is just ever-so-slightly weird. Desperately lonely? Some sort of psephological train-spotter? Political party member primed to skew the poll for or against ...
“Free at last, Free at last, Thank God almighty we are free at last.” ― Martin Luther King Jr. A long and bitter court feud between former Conservative Party leader Colin Craig and Jordan Williams has been settled, with an apology and compensation from Williams. On Tuesday, Craig sent out ...
Samuel Becher, Victoria University of Wellington and Jessica C Lai, Victoria University of WellingtonEarlier this year, the New Zealand-based pizza chain Hell Pizza offered a limited-edition “Burger Pizza”. Its customers weren’t told that the “meat” was plant-based. Some customers complained to the Commerce Commission, which enforces consumer law in ...
Some people seem to want to close down any critical discussion of the current research into the relationship between water fluoride and child IQ. They appear to argue that claims made by researchers should not be open to critical review and that the claims be accepted without proper consideration ...
The government has been congratulating itself over the passage of the Zero Carbon Act, which sets out long-term emissions targets. Meanwhile, Climate Action Tracker has the shameful reality: those targets are insufficient:While New Zealand is showing leadership by having passed the world’s second-ever Zero Carbon Act in November 2019, under ...
The government introduced a Racing Industry Bill today. As an urban who horse racing as pointless-to-cruel, and gambling as a tax on stupidity and/or hope, this isn't normally a bill which would interest me in the slightest, beyond grumpiness at more government money for a dying industry. But there is ...
Check. Check. One, two, three, four. Is this thing ON? Hello readers, I logged in last night (yeah, it’s been a while) to mark THE END of the landmark legal case, Jordan Williams v Colin Craig, which (gulp) reached The Supreme Court, in which New Zealand’s most-defamed man was suing the politician he ...
Before The Birth: Israel’s most fervent supporters set their clocks ticking in Biblical times. They cite the kingdoms of David and Solomon as proof that, in the words of the Exodus movie’s theme-song: “This land is mine.” The majority of Israel’s backers, however, start their clocks in 1933 – the year Adolf ...
In an unreliable, strange and confusing world, Public Address is proud to present a measure of comfort and stability by annually asking everyone what words or phrases sum up the year that's been – and then giving some of them consumer goods as prizes for being clever or simply lucky.Well, ...
Both my parents are pretty handy – and they seem to have the right tools for most jobs in the garage and they know how to fix practically anything. A similar story could be told about their generation’s experience in the workforce – being a generalist was not unusual and ...
When it was revealed that NZ First had tried to enrich itself from public office via the Provoncial Growth Fund, the Prime Minister assured us that everything was OK as Shane Jones, the Minister responsible for the fund, had recused himself. Except it seems that that recusal came very late ...
Today is a Member's Day, and probably the last one of the year. After the marathon of the End of Life Choice Act, most of the bills up for debate today are uncontentious. First up is the second reading of Chlöe Swarbrick's Election Access Fund Bill. This will be followed ...
The Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee has reported back on the government's odious and tyrannical control orders bill. As expected, the fraudulent select committee process has made no significant changes (partly because they couldn't agree, but mostly because it was a stitch-up from the start, with no intention of ...
Yesterday, the government released its draft Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill, which will be put to a non-binding referendum at the next election. I'm not a drug policy expert, but Russell Brown is, and he thinks its pretty good. And pretty obviously, it will be a massive improvement on the ...
As you're probably aware, the draft bill outlining the proposed legal cannabis regime to be put to a referendum late next year was published yesterday, and has already attracted a flurry of comment. It's notable that a good deal of the comment is about proposals that aren't actually new.A minimum ...
One of the big problems in New Zealand climate change policy is the government working at cross-purposes with itself. It wants to reduce fossil fuel use, but encourages oil and gas exploration. It wants to reduce transport emissions, but then builds enormous new roads. The problem could be avoided if ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzAccording to the United Nations, food shortages are a threat ...
Last year, the government announced it was ending offshore oil exploration by no longer issuing new permits. The idea was that the industry would then die off as permits expired. Except almost immediately the government revealed its bad faith, by saying they would extend permits and alter conditions to keep ...
The government introduced the Education and Training Bill to Parliament yesterday. Its a massive bill, which replaces both existing Education Acts, as well as various other bits of legislation (including some which are still proceeding through the House). I'll leave the serious analysis to teachers and people who actually know ...
Amelia SharmanThere’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to micro-credentials, those bits of bite-sized learning that can help workers stay on top of technological change. What’s a micro-credential? While definitions vary, micro-credentials can be understood as short courses that allow people to learn new skills or have an existing competency recognised. ...
All Smiles Now: Claire Szabo is taking up her presidential role after serving as the CEO of Habitat For Humanity. Which is absolutely perfect! After KiwiBuild was so comprehensively mismanaged by Phil Twyford, the party has not only elected a new president from a thoroughly respectable not-for-profit, but one who ...
While much of the NZ left has transitioned to postmodern and identity politics in relation to transgender ideology, there are some very good articles about that deploy Marxist methodology in relation to this subject. The one below is from the British marxist group Counterfire and appeared on their site here ...
by Daphna Whitmore At Golden Oaks, a luxurious country retreat in the Hudson Valley, pregnant women have the best care money can buy. From the organic food, personalised exercise programmes, private yoga instruction and daily massages Golden Oaks looks like a country lodge for the upper class. Set some time ...
When Labour was running for election in 2017, it felt it needed to demonstrate "fiscal responsibility" and signed itself up to masochistic "budget responsibility rules". It was a fool's errand: the sorts of voters who demand fiscal responsibility are also the sorts of voters who believe that labour can never ...
Writing in Stuff, Joel MacManus looks at what we need to do to meet the Zero Carbon Act's targets. The core of it:1. Convert 85 per cent of vehicles on the road to electric. 2. Eliminate fossil fuels from all industrial heating up to 300 degrees Celsius. 3. Double our ...
Professors Janet Hoek and Richard Edwards, Emeritus Professor Phil Gendall, Jude Ball, Dr Judith McCool, Anaru Waa, Dr Becky FreemanRecent media reports have presented conflicting evidence on youth vaping in NZ. While some NZ school principals report concerns about increasing vaping on school grounds and confiscating vapes, ASH Year ...
“America the Beautiful!”, staunch defender of democracy, freedom and… a whole lot of despotic tyrants that play nice with what is called “the Washington Consensus.” America is indeed capable of immense good, but like any Nation, and most assuredly any aspirant to the mantle of Empire, great, immense evil. All ...
Image credit:The beginner’s guide to blogging I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the blog format is altered. If your blog is ...
1080 is used to control pests in NZ. Its use is contested by a noisy few. A new report claims high levels of 1080 in rats washed up on a beach. Flora and Fauna of Aotearoa (F&F) won’t name the laboratory that did their testing. It has sparked a hunt ...
What Kind Of Empire? The thing for Kiwis to decide is what kind of empire they want to belong to. The kind that, while offering its own citizens democratic rights, demands absolute obedience from its “friends”? Or, the kind that, while authoritarian at home, takes a relaxed attitude to the ...
It hasn't been a good week for the Conservatives, pollwise. All major recent polls are showing their lead shrinking.Comparing each pollster's current (between 29/11 and 22/11) and previous most recent poll.Com Res - Conservative lead down 3 points.You Gov - Conservative lead down 1 point.Kantar - Conservative lead down 4 ...
Within quick succession, Countdown maths wizard and twitterer Rachel Riley, alleged comedian David Baddiel and prominent lawyer Andrew Julius have all expressed very similar opinions / ideas:
These #3billboards are going round London today, organised by ex-Labour people, horrified by what their party has become. Their principles haven’t changed, they’re ...
So, there have been a bunch of bad polls out for Labour, and even the Leftie's friend, Survation, have recently given the Conservatives a rip-snorting 11% lead. You Gov's much vaunted MRP poll - which pretty much nailed the result in 2015 - is currently predicting a comfortable majority for ...
The European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly to declare a climate emergency:The European parliament has declared a global “climate and environmental emergency” as it urged all EU countries to commit to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The vote came as scientists warned that the world may have already crossed ...
Pure Fear: Worse than Heroin, this drug’s addictive power was terrifying. People under its influence didn’t drift off to Elysium. Nor did it persuade inadequate individuals that they could conquer the world. No, this drug – pure crystal methamphetamine, “P” for short – unlocked the gates of Hell itself. It ...
As the rate of measles infection, and of deaths, continues to climb in Samoa, antivaccination activists infectious disease proponents seem intent on doubling down on their claims about vaccination. (Check pretty much any news-media FB post about measles & you’ll see exactly what I mean.) Unfortunately, some of them have ...
New Zealand First MP Darroch Ball’s bill introducing a six-month minimum sentence for assaults on first responders has passed its first reading in Parliament. Mr Ball said the new offence of "injuring a first responder or prison officer with intent" would target people who attacked paramedics, police, firefighters, and corrections ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters gave his final interview for 2019 on The Country to tell farmers they have never had it better under the current coalition Government. “Here you've got these record returns [for farmers]. These returns would be nothing like a record if the currency under the ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters said that New Zealand's Cook Islands High Commissioner, Tessa Temata, has died over the weekend. Ms Temata, 52, died in Palmerston North and had returned to New Zealand for medical treatment. She was the first New Zealand High Commissioner to the Cook Islands of Cook Island ...
A new defence report has mapped out how New Zealand's soldiers will navigate rising seas, and a year after the Defence Force announced its need to prepare for climate change. In the “Responding to the Climate Crisis” report, the Force restates its operational plan and sets goals to tackle climate ...
Mark Patterson, Spokesperson for Primary Industries New Zealand First spokesperson for Primary Industries, Mark Patterson, has called for awareness to be raised and more stringent biosecurity checks to be put in place for African Swine Fever (ASF), a widespread virus that is uncontrolled in most of Asia and a serious ...
Jenny Marcroft MP, Spokesperson for Human Rights A critical step has been taken to end gender based violence against women and girls in Parliament this evening. New Zealand First Spokesperson for Human Rights Jenny Marcroft MP has welcomed the passing of the first reading of the Crimes (Definition of Female ...
New Zealand First MP Shane Jones says it's time to recognise market forces haven't led to the expected reduction in Māori smoking rates and try a new approach. The Party had recently invoked the agree to disagree clause in their Coalition Agreement with the Labour Party, and will not support ...
Live from the Whanganui Opera House, on the final day of the 2019 Labour Party Conference, Jacinda Ardern announced the largest investment in school property in 25 years. ...
The Coalition Government will be banning foreign donations to political parties and candidates, ahead of next year’s general elections. Legislation will be introduced to Parliament and passed under urgency – emphasising the need for such restrictions to safeguard our democracy. The bill introduces a new requirement that party secretaries and ...
Associate Transport Minister Shane Jones opened Taipā's $19 million bridge recently, improving transport infrastructure in the Northland region. The two-lane bridge is 107m long with a 2.5m-wide shared walking and cycling path, and will reduce the congestion that the old one-lane bridge was notorious for. The project had also included ...
The Overseas Investment Office have rejected the application of Mercury Agriculture LP, which is 92 per cent controlled by Canadian interests, to purchase more than 2000 hectares of South Canterbury and Otago land. Mercury wanted to buy 2000ha at Rangitata, 1494ha near Ashburton, 816ha near Cromwell and 212ha near Temuka. ...
This weekend was Labour's 103rd Party Conference! We welcomed over 500 of our Labour whānau in red to Whanganui, where we reflected on the last two years in Government, and looked ahead to 2020 and beyond. We know the long-term challenges facing New Zealand won't be tackled overnight, but we're making ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced that the Provincial Growth Fund will invest $9.6 million to seal the final unsealed section of State Highway 43 from Stratford to Taumarunui. The Minister said sealing the 12-kilometre gravel section of the highway – also called the “Forgotten World Highway” - through ...
Former Finance Minister and former chair of the Tax Working Group, Sir Michael Cullen, has voiced his support for New Zealand First’s decision to oppose the planned increase in tobacco excise tax. In an interview with The Weekend Collective, he said that increasing the price was no longer effective in ...
Māori are natural storytellers. On the marae we use stories to tell our history, to teach the next generation life lessons and to let people know, in our most creative of ways, who we are and where we have come from. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand First Leader New Zealand First has invoked the ‘Agree to Disagree’ provisions of the Coalition Agreement because it cannot support the announced 11.46 percent increase in the tobacco excise from 1 January 2020. “Studies show that the automatic tobacco excise increases are having less effect ...
Taupō-based company Geo40 has made a breakthrough in extracting near battery-grade lithium from geothermal fluid which its says could be a gamechanger. Its chief executive John Worth said the earth mineral was highly prized, with battery-grade lithium selling for US$10,000 (NZ$15,600) a tonne. Geo40 was founded in 2010 to find ...
Crown research institute AgResearch Ltd, as part of its Future Footprint plan, had intended to relocate top scientists and support staff — particularly those focused on sheep genetics and genomics — from Invermay to Lincoln. However, those plans seem to have been shelved at the request of the Coalition Government. ...
Ten engineering firms in Southland are receiving a total of $2.13 million in Provincial Growth Fund funding to lift productivity and create new jobs. Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced in Invercargill that the 10 engineering and manufacturing firms would receive funding to assist them with buying equipment that ...
The number of new residents to New Zealand is the lowest it has been in nearly two decades and it has earned the ire of the immigration industry. The industry alleges that 'Trump-style extreme vetting' is being put in place aimed at keeping a lid on immigration numbers. June Ranson, ...
The Royal New Zealand Air Force is one step closer to modernising its fleet after the United States State Department recently approved the sale of five new C-130J Hercules aircraft to New Zealand. Arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin, in Fort Worth, Texas, will provide the aircraft, but as a "foreign military ...
Hon Ron Mark, Minister of DefenceTērā te haeata takiri ana mai i runga o Pukaha!Ara tai uru, whai uru, whai uru!Ara whai ato, whai ato, whai ato!Ara rā tini, ara rā tini, ara ri!The rays of the morning sun strike a new dawn upon Pukaha ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Foreign Minister Winston Peters announced today the appointment of diplomat Sarah Lee as New Zealand’s High Commissioner to South Africa. She will be the first female Head of Mission to represent New Zealand in Africa. “New Zealand’s relationship with South ...
Forestry Minister Shane Jones wants to create a log barging facility at Hicks Bay and turn the area into a Special Economic Zone. The move would be part of protecting New Zealand's forests from being depleted by India and China, he said. It follows his announcement last week to strengthen ...
New Zealand First supports the changes recommended by the Winter Grazing Taskforce to improve animal welfare outcomes through the winter months, and the establishment of a pan-sector action group to implement them. New Zealand First Primary Industries Spokesperson Mark Patterson says the report highlights areas of concern about the animal ...
Former prime ministers Helen Clark and Sir John Key, formerly from the Labour and National parties respectively, have joined forces in support of New Zealand First’s plan to relocate Auckland's port to Whangārei. While Ms Clark and Sir John spent their political careers on opposite sides of the political divide, ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is in Japan for the Foreign Ministers' meeting of the G20 grouping of countries as one of nine "invited" countries. He has used the opportunity to cast a spotlight on the plight of Pacific countries, calling out countries which still offered subsidies or Government assistance to ...
The days of vulnerable consumers falling victim to loan sharks, truck shops and other predatory lenders are numbered, following the Credit Contracts Legislation Amendment Bill passing its third reading tonight. “Too many Kiwis are being given loans that are unaffordable and unsuitable, trapping them in debt and leaving their families ...
A Bill that prevents terrorism and supports the de-radicalisation of New Zealanders returning from overseas has passed its third reading, Justice Minister Andrew Little says. The Terrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Bill is a carefully targeted response to manage the risk posed by a small number of New Zealanders who have ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio will travel to Samoa on Friday, where New Zealand medical teams are helping Samoa respond to an outbreak of measles. “New Zealand has been working closely with the Government of Samoa and offering our assistance from the ...
The Government has changed the law to improve student safety and welfare in university halls of residence and other student accommodation. The Education (Pastoral Care) Amendment Bill passed its third reading this afternoon and details of an interim Code of Practice setting out the Government’s expectations of tertiary providers have also been released. ...
A new tool to help councils fund and finance infrastructure could mean some housing developments happen a decade earlier than currently planned, Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford said today. “This new tool, developed by the Government in partnership with industry and high-growth councils, will allow councils to access private debt ...
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor has welcomed the release of a bold new vision for the country’s vital food and fibre sector. “I’m delighted that New Zealand’s major farmer and grower organisations are today supporting the Primary Sector Council’s vision – Fit for a Better World,” he said. “The international consumers ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has congratulated the Government of Papua New Guinea and the Autonomous Bougainville Government for completing a well-conducted referendum on the future political status of Bougainville. “New Zealand supported the referendum process by providing technical advice through the New Zealand Electoral Commission and leading a Regional Police ...
In light of Cabinet’s position that freight operations on prime land in downtown Auckland are no longer viable, the Government will now embark on a short work programme to enable decision-making in the first half of next year, Associate Transport Minister Shane Jones says. Minister Jones is today releasing the ...
Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter has received the report back from a surgical mesh restorative justice process undertaken by Victoria University. The process heard stories, either in person or online submission, from more than 600 people affected by surgical mesh. “The report made for heart-breaking and confronting reading,” says ...
The Water Services Regulator Bill – Taumata Arowai , introduced to Parliament today, is a milestone for drinking water safety in New Zealand and will help improve environmental outcomes for urban waterways, rivers and lakes. “This is a breakthrough for New Zealanders in terms of providing safe drinking water throughout ...
Kia ora koutouE ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā matā wakaTēnā koutou katoaHaere ngā, moe maiKoutou ma ngā Rangatira Ko Anaru ahauKo au te Minita mo ngā TureHe Honore tino nui kei roto I ahau No reira tena koutou katoa Today, we are releasing two reports that are the ...
The Government is looking to turn around the long-term challenges of criminal justice by taking a new approach to break the cycle of offending to ensure there are fewer victims of crime. Justice Minister Andrew Little released two reports today, Turuki! Turuki! from Te Uepū Hāpai I te Ora, and ...
New Zealand firms expanding beyond the start-up phase are set for more support after today’s passage of the Venture Capital Fund Bill, Associate Finance Minister David Parker said. The Bill, which establishes a $300 million Venture Capital Fund, puts in place a key initiative of the Wellbeing Budget’s economic package. ...
E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā iwi, e ngā rau rangatira mā. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa. Señora Presidenta, Excellencies, Delegates. International action A common thread that runs through the Paris Agreement is the commitment we have made to each other to do what we can to ...
The Government is lifting capital investment to the highest level in more than 20 years as it takes the next step to future-proof New Zealand. Finance Minister Grant Robertson has announced $12 billion of new investment, with $8 billion for specific capital projects and $4 billion to be added to ...
The Government is forecast to run $12 billion worth of surpluses across the four years to 2023/24 as the economy continues to grow. The surpluses will help fund day-to-day capital requirements each year. These include fixing leaky hospitals, building new classrooms to cover population growth and take pressure off class ...
Budget 2020 will continue the Coalition Government’s focus on tackling the long-term challenges facing New Zealand while also investing to future-proof the economy. When the Government took office in 2017 it was left with crumbling infrastructure, severe underinvestment in public services, degraded rivers and lakes, a housing crisis and rising ...
The Minister responsible for the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011 (te Takutai Moana Act 2011), Andrew Little has welcomed the launch of an online geospatial tool that provides data-rich, dynamic coastline maps that will significantly boost research and evidence-gathering under the Act. Te Kete Kōrero a Te ...
The Chief Victims Advisor to Government Dr Kim McGregor, QSO, has been reappointed in her role for a further two years. Dr McGregor has held the role since it was established in November 2015. She provides independent advice to government on how to improve the criminal justice system for victims. ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and Civil Defence Minister Peeni Henare have today announced the deployment of a network of DART (Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunami) buoys. “New Zealand and the Pacific region are particularly vulnerable to natural disasters. It is vital we have adequate warning systems in place,” ...
DART Buoys Announcement Aotea Wharf, 9.30am 11 December 2019 Acknowledgements Acknowledgements to Minister for Civil Defence Hon Peeni Henare also here today. White Island It is with regret that this event shadows the tragic natural disaster two days ago. The volcanic eruptions on White Island have claimed 5 lives, ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has welcomed the first reading of the Racing Industry Bill in parliament today. This is the second of two Bills that have been introduced this year to revitalise New Zealand’s racing industry. “Our domestic racing industry has been in serious decline. The Government is committed to ...
Minister for Disability Issues, Carmel Sepuloni, is pleased to announce that $291,321 is to be awarded to national and local community initiatives to maintain and promote the use of New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL). “New Zealand is one of the few countries in the world where Sign Language is an ...
Minister for Veterans Ron Mark has announced today the Coalition Government’s initial response to work completed by the independent statutory body, the Veterans’ Advisory Board. “When Professor Ron Paterson completed his review of the Veterans’ Support Act in 2018, he made a number of recommendations, including one which I referred ...
The Government will fund the bulk of the cost of a rural water supply for the Ohakea community affected by PFAS contamination, Environment Minister David Parker announced today at a meeting of local residents. This new water scheme will provide a reliable and clean source of drinking water to the ...
I have had the opportunity to be briefed on the details of the volcanic eruption of Whakaari/White Island, off the coast of Whakatane in the Bay of Plenty. The eruption happened at 2.11pm today. It continues to be an evolving situation. We know that there were a number of tourists ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister of Civil Defence Peeni Henare have today confirmed initial Government support of $100,000 for communities affected by the severe weather that swept across the South Island and lower North Island over the weekend. The contribution will be made to Mayoral relief funds across the ...
New Zealand's High Commissioner to the Cook Islands, Tessa Temata, died in Palmerston North over the weekend, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said today. Ms Temata, 52, had recently returned to New Zealand for medical treatment. "On behalf of the Government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, we extend ...
Transport Minister Phil Twyford today announced construction is underway on Wellington commuter rail upgrades which will mean more frequent services and fewer breakdowns. The upgrades include converting the Trentham to Upper Hutt single track section to a double track, with a new signalling system, upgraded stations and level crossings, and ...
Minister of Defence Ron Mark and Minister for Climate Change James Shaw have announced the release of a Defence Climate Change Implementation Work Plan, titled Responding to the Climate Crisis: An Implementation Plan. The plan sets out a series of recommendations based on the 2018 New Zealand Defence Assessment, The ...
A medium-scale adverse event has been declared for the South Canterbury district, which will see up to $50,000 in funding made available to support farming communities which have been significantly affected by recent heavy rain and flooding in the area, says Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. “Two weeks of solid rain ...
Thank you Professor Juliet Gerrard and your team for the comprehensive and extremely helpful report and recommendations. Thank you too to all the stakeholders and interested parties who have contributed ideas and thinking to it. “Making best practice, standard practice” is a great framework for change and the action plan ...
The Government will phase out more single-use plastics following the success of its single-use plastic bag ban earlier this year and the release today of a pivotal report for dealing with waste. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has welcomed the Rethinking Plastics in Aotearoa New Zealandreport, released by her Chief Science Advisor ...
International education continues to thrive as the Government focuses on quality over quantity, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said. The tuition revenue from international education increased to $1.16 billion last year with the average tuition fee per student increasing by $960. The total number of international students enrolled in New Zealand ...
I want to talk about one of the most pressing issues in our national life: the housing crisis and the poor performance of our cities. The argument I want to make to you is that generations of urban land use policy have lacked a decent grounding in economics. The consequences ...
Health Minister Dr David Clark says new appointments to DHBs represent a significant changing of the guard, with 13 new chairs including four Māori chairs. Today 76 appointments have been announced to complement elected board members, as well as eight elected members appointed as either chair or deputy chair. Four ...
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Fletcher Tabuteau, is travelling to Germany, Poland, Austria, and Spain next week to bolster New Zealand’s political and trade relationships in Europe. While in Spain, Mr Tabuteau will represent New Zealand at the 14th Asia-Europe (ASEM) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Madrid. “New Zealand strongly supports ...
“I’ve spoken to Minister Faafoi, who has apologised for his poor handling of this issue,” Jacinda Ardern said. “I have confidence in Kris as a hardworking and effective Minister, but this should have been dealt with in a much clearer manner, and I’ve made my views on that very clear ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters met with Tongan Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pohiva Tu'i'onetoa in Wellington today. The pair signed a Statement of Partnership setting out joint priorities for cooperation out to 2023. “We welcomed Prime Minister Tu'i'onetoa on his first visit to New Zealand as Prime Minister. Tonga ...
The Minister of Police Stuart Nash says his sympathies are with the family of a man who died after being shot by Police in Kurow. “Initial reports are that Police were called by a family member to help the man who was threatening to harm himself,” Mr Nash says. “However ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Scott Morrison is picking up that Australia’s devastating, prolonged fires are producing a soured, anti-government mood among many in the community. It may not be entirely rational for people to turn on politicians in such ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katharine Kemp, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, UNSW, and Co-Leader, ‘Data as a Source of Market Power’ Research Stream of The Allens Hub for Technology, Law and Innovation, UNSW Today, the federal government responded to the recommendations of the Australian Competition and ...
Winston Peters hopes mergers of NZME and Stuff and RNZ and TVNZ will save local journalism. Bernard Hickey argues they are more likely to again prove costly diversions. ...
The foreign affairs minister Winston Peters will be travelling to Samoa tomorrow to visit hospitals and medical teams dealing with the ongoing measles outbreak. ...
Andrew Little says the justice system is “taking wrecked lives and wrecking them just a little bit more”, but will the Govt cough up with what's needed for transformative change? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lidia Morawska, Professor, Science and Engineering Faculty; Director, International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health (WHO CC for Air Quality and Health); Director – Australia, Australia – China Centre for Air Quality Science and Management (ACC-AQSM), Queensland University of Technology Bushfire smoke ...
Winston Peters is bemoaning how long a decision on Northport is taking, saying if you're faced with inevitability, you should act. But Cabinet ministers have put off making a call until next year. ...
A review of the ANZ Bank New Zealand's missteps over the past year has found complacency at the most senior level, leading to the departure of its long serving chief executive. ...
Dr Bryce Edwards.In his big-spending infrastructure announcement yesterday, Grant Robertson reinforced what many political commentators say about him – he’s electorally smart, but way too conservative to be a genuine leftwing minister of finance. Robertson does what is right for winning votes, but not necessarily what is in the ...
Council of Licenced Firearms Owners (COLFO) says the announcement today of three changes to the Arms Bill should be the start of a large-scale rewrite, or even eventual abandonment. ...
The failure of high-growth councils to supply enough infrastructure to support housing development has led to some serious social and economic problems, the NZ Productivity Commission states in a local government funding and financing report released today. ...
Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) says that while the Budget Policy Statement 2020 promises to extend Budget 2019’s 'Wellbeing' framework and states "reducing child poverty and improving child wellbeing" as a priority, spending plans don’t ...
The National Party's new health platform includes $50 million a year for cancer drugs, a boost to Pharmac funding and the reintroduction of National Health Targets. ...
Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) is lamenting the lack of courage shown in the Productivity Commission’s Local Government Funding Report, saying that while it makes many worthy recommendations, its play-it-safe-approach relegates the report ...
Wellington 12 December 2019: The Government’s announcement to future-proof New Zealand with a $12billion investment in infrastructure is a positive sign for the country’s future. ...
19-year-old Benee’s track ‘Glitter’ is climbing international charts thanks to being given a TikTok dance. How does that work? Josie Adams explains what a TikTok dance is, and how this social media app is the new MTV.Who is Benee?Benee has had a huge 2019, with the Aucklander riding sparkling pop ...
Newsroom has asked the district court to end a defamation action by business site NBR over a news story discussing NBR and ex National MP Steven Joyce. ...
Today, at a meeting of Auckland Council’s Governing Body, councillors voted unanimously for a series of resolutions that will require greater direct involvement in resolving the ongoing dispute between unions and NZ Bus from Auckland Transport and the Minister ...
“Important policy and legislative developments have landed today which could enable a bolder, more streamlined way of delivering new infrastructure for the benefit all New Zealanders,” says Infrastructure New Zealand CEO Paul Blair. ...
The Public Service Association welcomes the announcement of a new strategic direction for the justice system, but says union members want to be properly included in designing the system they will eventually implement. ...
The success stories of people with extra struggles may not get awards and trophies, but they’re worth celebrating all the same, says Jai Breitnauer.It’s the time of year for awards assemblies and prize-givings, for clubs and teams handing out certificates and trophies. It’s traditional, as we approach Christmas and the ...
Millions of dollars worth of New Zealand fruit and grapes were at risk of rotting on the branch due to a shortage of local pickers. So a visionary group of Central Otago growers. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katherine Gibney, NHMRC early career fellow, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity The pacific island nation of Samoa has been making headlines over the past month due to a significant measles outbreak. At last count, 4,995 measles cases had been ...
Two newspaper reports illustrate the contrasting involvements of science and spiritual beliefs in the aftermath of the White Island eruption. Meanwhile several iwi have placed rāhui over their customary coastal areas. This effectively represents a customary prohibition on all maritime activities for the whole of the Eastern Bay of Plenty ...
From Middle Earth to outer space, New Zealand business has covered a lot of ground in the last 10 years. Business editor Maria Slade looks back.As the world emerged blinking from the chaos of the 2008/2009 global financial crisis, New Zealand began the 2010s in relatively good shape. We’d recovered ...
The Spinoff’s cartoonist Toby Morris chats and draws with New Zealand’s doodlers in the webseries Two Sketches. This episode, Toby is the guest of Sir Michael Hill… Jeweller.To close out the season, and potentially the series, Toby boards the super yacht of jeweller, entrepreneur, rich lister and, now, cartoonist, Michael ...
Today's release of Turuki Turuki will be welcome news for people in prison and all those working in the criminal justice system. But its most important message is that all sides need to come together. Turuki Turuki is a call for political ...
The New Zealand First leader Winston Peters says the coalition Government agrees RNZ and TVNZ need protecting at a time when media industry is in dire straights. ...
When Barbara Cox joined a football team in 1973, she was one of the first women in the country to do so. She’s still fighting for women in the sport to get the respect they deserve. Auckland women didn’t play football in 1972. Auckland women cooked and cleaned and looked after ...
Richard MacManus meets Aimee – the digital assistant with a human touch. For years we’ve been worried about robots taking our jobs, but in fact it’s “digital humans” that are increasingly joining the workforce. At least, that seems to be the case in customer service. Southern Cross Health Society, New Zealand’s ...
Election rallies ain’t what they used to be. Boris’s election eve shindig was an invitation-only event for party faithful. The location (at a smallish venue in the London Olympic park) was disclosed to attendees only on the day (presumably to head off the risk of protest).The set-up is for ...
New Zealanders waiting for hip and knee surgery and other medical procedures, and families struggling to put food on the table will be funding increased profits for banks and corporate investors following Finance Minister Grant Robertson's $12 billion ...
Business is Boring is a podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to Campbell Ellison from Callaghan Innovation and Alexandra Allan, CEO of Food Bowl.One of the ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has published the 2019 ‘Public Sector CEO Rich List’ at www.taxpayers.org.nz/ceo_rich_list Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, “This year taxpayers will pay $62 million in salaries for just 140 people. ...
The first step in making things fairer, for those that have experienced a miscarriage or stillbirth, got closer with the passing of the first reading of Labour MP Ginny Anderson’s Holidays Act (Bereavement Leave for Miscarriage) Amendment Bill on Tuesday. ...
All over the world, driver error and risk-taking is a leading cause of road crashes [1]. For many employees, driving is the riskiest activity they undertake at work. Organisations looking to encourage and manage safe driving behaviours will benefit ...
The greatest show to ever air on New Zealand TV screens, and arguably any screens ever, had a tenure of just three tragically short years.It was on air from March 1997 to September 1999. It had an ensemble of impossibly jazzy New Zealand children and a live studio audience. It ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Government infrastructure spending, fiscal policy Chris Trotter: Grant Robertson Spends Up Large – On The Establishment Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Politics and economics ...
Thursday, 12 December: Great South has today released a profile of Southland’s emission sources for the 2018 calendar year. It shows that agricultural-related emissions were identified to be the largest emission source for Southland, representing 69% ...
Britain votes today in an election brought on by the ongoing failure of the House of Commons to approve any of the Brexit deals put before it over the last couple of years by successive Prime Ministers, Theresa May and now Boris Johnson. Mr Johnson ...
The case for a complete relocation of Auckland’s Waitematā Harbour freight port is far from established. Nevertheless, Auckland will grow over the long term, and the freight operations need to move away from the area close to the downtown Ferry Terminal. This area should become like Sydney’s Circular Quay. The ...
Climate change crisis; - “transport emissions are a major culprit causing horrendous weather events.” At CEAC; we will watch with interest of how the transport funds will be used to improve our transport infrastructure and lower our climate change ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson unveiled a $12 billion infrastructure spending boost that was at the top end of most short-term political expectations. ...
From unpaid teachers to match fixing to sex in a toilet, these are the news stories that outraged New Zealand in the 2010s.Paul HenryThe decade in NZ scandal started out strong thanks to TV and radio host Paul Henry (for the edification of younger readers, he was like Mike Hosking, ...
The Minister for the Environment, Hon David Parker, has this evening launched EDS’s final report on its Resource Management Law Reform Project at a function in Wellington. The project took a first-principles look at how New Zealand’s resource management ...
The power of government to order users and companies to decrypt encrypted data and devices needs stronger privacy protections and additional safeguards, according to a study published by researchers at the University of Waikato. ...
The final Cabinet meeting of the year is on Monday, but an announcement on the future of public broadcasting may not be made until next year given there's only be two of after that. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Manwaring, Senior Lecturer, Politics and Public Policy, Flinders University The cost of running the 2017 UK general election was estimated at £140 million (A$270 million). It’s likely to be higher this time. In 2017, the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats ...
National Leader Simon Bridges is accusing the Government of "screwing up the economy," after new Treasury figures revealed the books would be going into deficit next year. ...
Government unveils $12b infrastructure boost, much of it focused on roads and rail; and much awaited report on combatting foreign interference in elections delivered. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Brumm, ARC Future Fellow, Griffith University Our team has discovered a cave painting in Indonesia that is at least 44,000 years old and which may cast new light on the beginnings of modern religious culture. This ancient painting from the island ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Sweller, Emeritus Professor, UNSW This is the first of two essays exploring key theories – cognitive load theory and constructivism – underlying teaching methods used today. Explicit guidance and feedback from teachers is more effective in teaching students new content and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chris Hartley, Research Fellow (Housing and Homelessness) at the Centre for Social Impact, UNSW A private member’s bill, moved by Labor MP Josh Burns, recently called on the Australian government “to help build more affordable homes” in response to the growing homelessness ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Salvatore Ferraro, PhD candidate, RMIT University The board of Australia’s second-biggest bank is in for some stick at its annual general meeting today, as Westpac shareholders vent their displeasure at the scandal involving breaches of anti-money-laundering rules. But though it will be ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ayesha Scott, Senior Lecturer – Finance, Auckland University of Technology In the 12 years since New Zealand introduced the retirement fund KiwiSaver, nearly three million New Zealanders have enrolled and 30 KiwiSaver providers are now collectively managing NZ$57 billion in investments. But ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tanya Dalziell, Associate Professor, English and Literary Studies, University of Western Australia Nick Broomfield’s latest documentary, Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love tells the story of the fabled relationship between Leonard Cohen and Marianne Ihlen, which unfolded after they met on the ...
Two more victims of the Whakaari-White Island eruption have died overnight, taking the death toll to eight, with eight others believed dead on the island. ...
Two new reports both recommend fresh approaches to the way criminal justice is approached. Today, changes to the system will come into effect immediately. ...
Open Mike 27/03/2017 
If you want to study propagandist techniques, you are typically told to study Dictatorships. Not unfair, but what’s always been more interesting to me is so-called “democratic” countries and their broader information systems. Why? Because people opt for it, even as they decry “totalitarian regimes!”.. It’s quite an eye ...7 hours ago
Introducing legislation which shits on the public's right to know seems to have become a daily occurrence for this government. Today's example is the Infrastructure Funding and Financing Bill. The bill establishes a framework for the establishment of "special purpose vehicles" (SPVs) to hide debt from local government balance sheets ...10 hours ago
Below is the longlist of words and phrases generated in the korero phase of Public Address Word of the Year 2019, with some editorial moderation. Now it's time to vote. As you'll doubtless be able to see, you get three ranked choices. Use your power wisely. Or frivolously, whatever.As usual, ...10 hours ago
by Daphna Whitmore This week 800 unionised bus drivers in Auckland were suspended from work after they refused to collect fares as part of a campaign of industrial action. Drivers working for Auckland’s largest bus company NZ Bus are asking for more pay and better working conditions after being offered ...14 hours ago
As details emerge about what unfolded on Whakaari / White Island two days ago, my thoughts go out to all the families affected by this terrible event. My thoughts are also with the first responders who worked in perilous circumstances to assist and protect those affected. Both local and ...15 hours ago
BMG research have unleashed their final poll of the 2019 campaign:Westminster voting intention: CON: 41% (-)LAB: 32% (-)LDEM: 14% (-)GRN: 4% (-)BREX: 3% (-1)via @BMGResearch , 06 - 11 Dec Chgs. w/ 06 Dec That's a bit of a "Dunno why we bothered" sort of poll. "Phillip, I'm afraid I've been a ...16 hours ago
Grant Keeps On Trucking: Out of the $12 billion Robertson has announced for infrastructure investment, $8 billion will be allocated to specific projects, with the balance of $4 billion held in reserve. What does it say about this Government's "transformational" ambitions that 85 percent of that $8 billion is to ...17 hours ago
I love data. It’s amazing the sort of “discoveries” I can make given a data set and computer statistical package. It’s just so easy to search for relationships and test their statistical significance. Maybe relationships which ... 3 days ago
The state of the United Kingdom is fractured, torn up, shredded. The Empire is gone, it died a long time ago. And yet, the country is still tracking with a lead in favour of the ones who play to the ingrained, class-bound division for political gain. It is a disgrace ...5 days ago
It should be obvious by now but let’s be clear: The same folk who regularly traffic in disinformation, misinformation and “fake news” are also those who most strongly claim that their freedom of expression rights are being violated when moves are made to curb hate speech (as opposed to protected ...5 days ago
“Free at last, Free at last, Thank God almighty we are free at last.” ― Martin Luther King Jr. A long and bitter court feud between former Conservative Party leader Colin Craig and Jordan Williams has been settled, with an apology and compensation from Williams. On Tuesday, Craig sent out ...1 week ago
While much of the NZ left has transitioned to postmodern and identity politics in relation to transgender ideology, there are some very good articles about that deploy Marxist methodology in relation to this subject. The one below is from the British marxist group Counterfire and appeared on their site here ...1 week ago
“America the Beautiful!”, staunch defender of democracy, freedom and… a whole lot of despotic tyrants that play nice with what is called “the Washington Consensus.” America is indeed capable of immense good, but like any Nation, and most assuredly any aspirant to the mantle of Empire, great, immense evil. All ...2 weeks ago
Image credit: The beginner’s guide to blogging I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the blog format is altered. If your blog is ... 2 weeks ago
New Zealand First MP Darroch Ball’s bill introducing a six-month minimum sentence for assaults on first responders has passed its first reading in Parliament. Mr Ball said the new offence of "injuring a first responder or prison officer with intent" would target people who attacked paramedics, police, firefighters, and corrections ...1 day ago
Live from the Whanganui Opera House, on the final day of the 2019 Labour Party Conference, Jacinda Ardern announced the largest investment in school property in 25 years. ...1 week ago
The days of vulnerable consumers falling victim to loan sharks, truck shops and other predatory lenders are numbered, following the Credit Contracts Legislation Amendment Bill passing its third reading tonight. “Too many Kiwis are being given loans that are unaffordable and unsuitable, trapping them in debt and leaving their families ...7 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Scott Morrison is picking up that Australia’s devastating, prolonged fires are producing a soured, anti-government mood among many in the community. It may not be entirely rational for people to turn on politicians in such ...34 mins ago
Winston Peters hopes mergers of NZME and Stuff and RNZ and TVNZ will save local journalism. Bernard Hickey argues they are more likely to again prove costly diversions. ...2 hours ago
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters is travelling to Samoa tomorrow to visit hospitals and medical teams dealing with the measles outbreak. ...3 hours ago
Andrew Little says the justice system is “taking wrecked lives and wrecking them just a little bit more”, but will the Govt cough up with what's needed for transformative change? ...4 hours ago
Light rail along Dominion Rd is further behind than many might have thought. ...5 hours ago
The Environmental Defence Society has launched an insightful, bold and practical roadmap for reforming our resource management system. ...6 hours ago
A review of the ANZ Bank New Zealand's missteps over the past year has found complacency at the most senior level, leading to the departure of its long serving chief executive. ...6 hours ago
Council of Licenced Firearms Owners (COLFO) says the announcement today of three changes to the Arms Bill should be the start of a large-scale rewrite, or even eventual abandonment. ...7 hours ago
The National Party's new health platform includes $50 million a year for cancer drugs, a boost to Pharmac funding and the reintroduction of National Health Targets. ...8 hours ago
Newsroom has asked the district court to end a defamation action by business site NBR over a news story discussing NBR and ex National MP Steven Joyce. ...8 hours ago
The success stories of people with extra struggles may not get awards and trophies, but they’re worth celebrating all the same, says Jai Breitnauer.It’s the time of year for awards assemblies and prize-givings, for clubs and teams handing out certificates and trophies. It’s traditional, as we approach Christmas and the ...9 hours ago
A building developer is asking the Christchurch City Council to cordon off his defective multi-storey block in the main shopping zone. ...9 hours ago
Millions of dollars worth of New Zealand fruit and grapes were at risk of rotting on the branch due to a shortage of local pickers. So a visionary group of Central Otago growers. ...9 hours ago
Two newspaper reports illustrate the contrasting involvements of science and spiritual beliefs in the aftermath of the White Island eruption. Meanwhile several iwi have placed rāhui over their customary coastal areas. This effectively represents a customary prohibition on all maritime activities for the whole of the Eastern Bay of Plenty ...10 hours ago
The New Zealand First leader Winston Peters says the coalition Government agrees RNZ and TVNZ need protecting at a time when media industry is in dire straights. ...11 hours ago
Election rallies ain’t what they used to be. Boris’s election eve shindig was an invitation-only event for party faithful. The location (at a smallish venue in the London Olympic park) was disclosed to attendees only on the day (presumably to head off the risk of protest). The set-up is for ...12 hours ago
NZ's media industry has found a surprising ally - of sorts - in the NZ First leader. ...14 hours ago
Finance Minister Grant Robertson unveiled a $12 billion infrastructure spending boost that was at the top end of most short-term political expectations. ...15 hours ago
The Finance Minister says reducing carbon emissions is one of the focus of a $12 billion boost to infrastructure. ...16 hours ago
National Leader Simon Bridges is accusing the Government of "screwing up the economy," after new Treasury figures revealed the books would be going into deficit next year. ...16 hours ago
Government unveils $12b infrastructure boost, much of it focused on roads and rail; and much awaited report on combatting foreign interference in elections delivered. ...16 hours ago
Two more victims of the Whakaari-White Island eruption have died overnight, taking the death toll to eight, with eight others believed dead on the island. ...16 hours ago
Some people compare our SAS heroes to
the US Navy SEAL teams. They could be right….
https://theintercept.com/2017/01/10/the-crimes-of-seal-team-6/
In reference to our SAS, and the ‘botched’ raid, why not have an enquiry?
Where is the political downside?
How does it go.. nothing to hide, nothing to fear.
The crafty Defence Force has waited five days to respond and then turn around and say it was the wrong village. How’s their fact checking, seeing they lost the ‘report’?
Did they wait five days because Parliament was sitting last week and not sitting this week?
Their fact checking is flawless. This story will be dead in a week.
Yeah so flawless they lost the report, some said this story would be dead by the end of last week, and yet it is still going.
An independent investigation would clear up the matter, but the outgoing PM is against that… ask yourself why?
This story is not going away. If it is not dealt with in the form of a fully independent inquiry, it will leave a stain on the reputation of our military and NZ as a whole.
Right now the NZDF and Government are trying to back pedal to a point where they can save some face. To me it is too late for that. They had 7 years to front foot it properly.
I liked Marianne Elliott on Q+A in the weekend in answer to the accusation that Hit and Run was politically motivated… that what we are dealing with here is a political cover up.
I’m still furious about Key’s final speech. What a lot of ghost-written bollocks ! There are many current horror stories out there of working conditions and parents sacrificing themselves for their kids including tangata whenua, polynesian, hindu, chinese, philipino, tamil among others, reflecting increasing complexity in Aotearoa. Parliament needs to reflect *them*, not just the chattering classes.
“Their fact checking is flawless.”
Seems it was their “fact checking” that was the problem.
Citation required.
The fact that their story keeps changing, for one thing.
Read the book!
He means the fact that there weren’t any insurgents in the village they attacked. Quite a failure of ‘fact checking’ that one.
Srylands is just reflexively supporting established power again. That’s what the authoritarian right does
War crimes trial required.
The sea is bumpy
“The Māori Party has spearheaded a new bill proposing major changes to the governance and administration of the 27,000 titles of Māori land in New Zealand, which equate to 6 percent of the country’s total land mass.
But its new ally, Mana Party leader Hone Harawira has called the Te Ture Whenua Māori Bill “a poisonous and destructive cancer”.”
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/327525/mana-attacks-maori-party-over-'poisonous'-land-bill
Disapointing comments by Winston. We have one of the highest child abuse and the highest domestic violence abuse… so lets not go backwards…
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2017/03/winston-peters-a-dangerous-old-man-sue-bradford.html
I guess wisdom comes with age. I experienced [suffered] both sensible and stupid corporal punishment in my youth and it is obvious to me it is a serious lack in the dragging up of children today as evidenced by the events which caused Winston to speak out for the return of discipline.
But sadly the biggest problem is the pre-dominence of female teachers who are incapable and prefer to deprive children of education rather than a little bit of discipline to show the children what is right and what is wrong in a way to be remembered.
jcuknz….. pleeeze female teachers are to blame…. maybe the sensible and stupid corporal punishment in your youth did some serious damage to your future intellectual state….
I suggest you retire to the study, Giles. Your dear wife will be along shortly with your pipe and slippers.
Sue Bradford calling out the Greens and by extension Labour for being neo liberal sacks of shit, and having the type of back bone sacks like that need…
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/201838072/what-price-power-former-green-mp-sue-bradford-slams-greens'-deal-with-labour
Not holding back, was she?
And she’s right. There is no way to be (so-called) fiscally responsible and also be socially responsible. The thing that really gets me about so-called fiscal responsibility is that it’s highly irresponsible – people suffer and people die when ledgers are held up as more important than people.
I actually think that the ‘business plan’ Gareth Morgan has tabled through TOPs has more to offer struggling people and does more to address imbalances of wealth than anything this straight jacket Labour and the Greens want the country to don can ever achieve.
Anyway. It’s looking like mana for me. And if that turns out to be a wasted vote, then hey. (I simply won’t vote in favour of getting a kicking)
Where have Labour or the Greens said that the ledger is more important than people? Shaw was pretty clear that it was the other way round.
“There is no way to be (so-called) fiscally responsible and also be socially responsible.”
So people said the other day and when I asked for an explanation of that what I got was lines of ideology. The framing of one vs the other and never the twain shall meet looks like a political stance rather than an absolute truth.
There was an entire post done just the other day that laid out their ‘fiscally responsible’ position. Y’know? All that b/s around debt being held to 20% of GDP etc?
I’m at a loss to understand what it is you’re not grasping. There are only two ways governments raise monies to spend on social programmes.
One way is through taxation. The other is through borrowing.
Obviously, if debt is being paid down then there’s no borrowing or only very limited borrowing. Meanwhile, revenue from taxation that’s paying down debt isn’t going to social spending.
In a situation where an economy has slowed, that diversion of a lower tax take to pay down debt is disastrous – it’s a liberal economic prescription that both Labour and the Greens have pledged to adhere to and it’s otherwise known as austerity.
The non-liberal prescription (the responsible avenue) is to borrow and supplement any tax take and then allocate the monies for various social expenditures. And only pay down debt when the debt to GDP ratio has naturally fallen as the consequence of increased GDP.
In other words, what Labour and the Greens should be saying is that their government will invest in schools and health and whatever infrastructure and services are required for the general welfare of NZ, and that debt will be only be paid down if and when favourable economic conditions prevail.
Well thanks for finally putting out an alternative positioning. Doesn’t high debt place us at increasing risk internationally?
What you appear to be saying is that if we have unfavourable conditions that on the basis of this policy the Greens would throw social services under a bus. I just don’t see the evidence for that (and I’m pretty sure Matthew addressed this issue in the last round).
The Greens are in favour of increasing govt income via taxation btw.
In answer to your first question, no.
On the second point, if monies are being used to pay down debt, then that can only come at the expense of social spending. Yes, given less money, health could be prioritised over roads. But regardless of what you may think of roads, the fact remains that less money is being spent into society in favour of giving that money over to debt repayment.
Increasing taxation when debt servicing is taking priority doesn’t really do much. If an economy is shrinking then the debt/GDP ration tends to climb no matter how much money is being raised to be thrown at the debt.
Just listened and what I heard Bradford saying is that the Greens have sold out… because. She doesn’t actually explain other than to say that business support the policy and that the policy will explicitly mean no social spending, but she doesn’t say how or why. She also says that they (both parties I guess) haven’t made any policy announcements regarding social spending, which I find quite extraordinary given that for the last couple of years the Greens have spoken and acted on this repeatedly.
At the end she gets a bit better where she makes a comparison with Labour in the 2000s and how they tinkered around the edges with social policy. And I agree there is a danger here for that to happen again, which is why we need the ratio of L to G MPs to be as even as possible so that the Greens have the power to push the govt left. It would be way better if we looked at what Clark’s govt did and compare it to what L/G now are intending and see what is similar and what is different. At the moment I’m just seeing a lot of reaction with little analysis.
I understand where Bradford is coming from. She didn’t get the opportunity to elaborate. But she is saying the economic agreement signals no change from how the Labour Party operated in 2000-2007: ie tinkering around the edges, and delivering a situation where the Nats, once in power again, can shift things even further rightwards.
Bradford particularly pointed out the way the latest Labour-Green agreement aims to get business onside as a priority, rather than address the pressing issues for the struggling Kiwis they should be supporting as a priority.
Also see Stephanie Rodgers on the agreement:
I think Bradford’s RNZ interview opens the way for the logic of a new left wing party. That may be where her thinking is headed. She tried Mana, so what else is there?
I agree with both Sue and Stephanie’s analysis but the answer is not another left-wing party – the answer is to try and influence the leftish parties we have. You don’t have to join them to do that – you can lobby relentlessly with well researched material directed at any of the MPs who may be sympathetic.
It takes too long to get a party to the stage where it can have a significant political role – Mana tried but IMO made a fatal error getting involved with Kim Dotcom and lost the momentum it had. A huge amount of energy went into Mana and it is hard to keep up the support from volunteers without any sign that they are getting anywhere.
Agree, Karen. But I think that’s maybe where Bradford’s thinking is going. Although, she also does a very good job of holding Labour & the Greens to account.
which is why we need the ratio of L to G MPs to be as even as possible so that the Greens have the power to push the govt left
But the Greens have just signed up to this notion of having debt sit at no more than 20% of GDP. You can’t really get any more non- left than that. (I mean, sure, yo could go for 10% or 5% – but the whole point is that the focus they’re applying to debt is absolutely a right wing focus – liberal)
Even if that were true (and that’s not quite how it was framed in the document), they’re still to the left of every other party in parliament. And that one aspect of what the Greens are doing doesn’t shift their whole kaupapa and policy platform to the right of centre. So having maximum MPs in parliament will give them more chance of moving Labour in the direction of Green Party policy (by all means try and make the argument that GP policy is largely right wing).
I’m not sure what you expect given that Labour are going to run a neoliberal govt albeit a centre left one. Seriously, since the announcement was made I’ve yet to see a credible alternative presented (haven’t read the CTU one yet). Stephanie had a go by saying that they should have focussed on people not finances, but it still doesn’t address the issue of needing the business community on board to govern, and needing to present as credible to get that chunk of the electorate who vote on credibility over the cluster fuck that has been Labour for the past decade.
On climate change alone that’s critical, because the only other option is a 4th term NACT govt. Bradford obviously thinks that being liked by the business community is the end of the world. I think it’s just a natural consequence of lefties not voting Green while they were still radical and the Greens now positioning themselves where they can do the most good within the limitations they’re presented with. Personally I think it’s a piece of leftie bullshit to condemn them on this, because they’re damned if they do and damned if they don’t.
The Greens don’t sit neatly into the left/right box you want to frame them in. They’ll use the tools available to them, but I’m guessing you are looking at the policy within a conventional political framework as well as not looking at it within the broader actions of the Greens.
I’ve yet to see a credible alternative presented
It’s been stated, alluded to and presented over and over again. Focus on necessary social investment. Borrow to fund that if necessary.
Debt levels do not matter. They really don’t. All this nonsense about a need to pay it down is absolute ideological tosh that, if followed through on, inflicts huge amounts of damage on society and people.
Recent and less recent history is awash with ugly real world examples of what happens when debt repayment takes precedence over social investment.
Even if that were true (and that’s not quite how it was framed in the document), they’re still to the left of every other party in parliament.
No they are not.
And that one aspect of what the Greens are doing doesn’t shift their whole kaupapa and policy platform to the right of centre.
Yes it does.
So having maximum MPs in parliament will give them more chance of moving Labour in the direction of Green Party policy (by all means try and make the argument that GP policy is largely right wing).
All their policies are beholden to or limited by their economic positioning. And that’s unabashedly liberal – something they just ‘officially’ signed up to and crowed about the other day.
I’m not sure what you expect given that Labour are going to run a neoliberal govt albeit a centre left one. Seriously, since the announcement was made I’ve yet to see a credible alternative presented (haven’t read the CTU one yet).
See the other reply I made.
Stephanie had a go by saying that they should have focussed on people not finances, but it still doesn’t address the issue of needing the business community on board to govern, and needing to present as credible to get that chunk of the electorate who vote on credibility over the cluster fuck that has been Labour for the past decade.
If the belief is that business being on board is more important than people being on board, then they’re lost (and will hopefully sink without a trace soon)
On climate change alone that’s critical, because the only other option is a 4th term NACT govt. Bradford obviously thinks that being liked by the business community is the end of the world. I think it’s just a natural consequence of lefties not voting Green while they were still radical and the Greens now positioning themselves where they can do the most good within the limitations they’re presented with. Personally I think it’s a piece of leftie bullshit to condemn them on this, because they’re damned if they do and damned if they don’t.
Some might view your loyalty to ‘the party’ as noble. But blaming voters for a political party’s shortcomings isn’t flash. Neither is any attempt to play some minor fear card (Nat term no. 4) , because that’s usually a precursor to some ultimatum on the need to ‘vote for the lesser evil’ or you’re a part of the problem nonsense.
The Greens don’t sit neatly into the left/right box you want to frame them in. They’ll use the tools available to them, but I’m guessing you are looking at the policy within a conventional political framework as well as not looking at it within the broader actions of the Greens.
Left and right are economic concepts. The Greens have announced they will adhere to right wing (liberal) economic demands.
Strong sue indeed. I, like her, feel like I am lost on who to vote for this year.
She needs to come back to parliament. Can she and the Greens make up for the greater good of our country?
I agree with Sue Bradford with the anti smacking laws, but not on her opinions on the Greens MoU with Labour. The greens should push Labour centre left which is where Labour need to be (but in the right areas).
I’d also like to see Mana get through. That’s MMP, just as we have the far right ideology from National and ACT we need to have some balance from the far left. What is missing in NZ debate is fresh ideas and how to deal with 21st century issues especially globalism.
A case in point in the article below. http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/327526/firms-look-at-cruise-ship-option-for-akl-rail-link-workers
A Chinese bidder for the rail link is proposing to possibly house 1000’s of workers in a cruise ship. Previously, infrastructure projects paid for by NZ tax payers would be good, creating local jobs and opportunities, nowadays, infrastructure projects seem to do the opposite with cheaper workers from overseas being bought in to ‘work’, quality questionable (trains full of asbestos), housing and rents escalating with the amount of ‘new’ workers flooding in, more transport issues from the ‘new’ workers and their families seem to be coming too, and their health, education needs being met by local taxpayers and often bankrupting local businesses with the noise and disruption caused by the 6 years of construction around them.
At the end of the day most of the profits from the infrastructure project go off shore to the parent company. NZ gets little from it and most local people are worse off. Then they ask the local people still employed to stump up more taxes to pay for it all these important infrastructure projects.
My concerns about Labour and Greens is that are still in denial about the actual real effects on local people under globalism and they still think about it in terms of 20th century globalism. Going rah rah to globalism in the 21st century seems akin to forcing inequality on the local community.
Personally I think the Chinese would be amenable for these concerns because they look to the long term relationship, not the short term like the Natz.
Another term of the Natz will be the death for anybody renting, Maori, the environment and hollowing out the middle class further and escalating housing, transport, immigration scams and pollution crisis.
Politicians need to look around them at the US, UK and what normal people are telling them – the messages that are resonating – because people want free borders and selected immigration, but not some free for all that turns their day to day life into a noise, pollution filled, insecure work, struggle. Politicians need to rethink globalism and do proper accounting both financially and socially – before it leads to more climate change and societal disruption.
Their obligation should be to their own citizens not global opportunities for the .1% and an ideology that works like a Ponzi scheme.
They also need to factor in, those local people become more desperate, or who have never had a proper job and now can’t even access welfare. The government war on P for example is a joke!
We wouldn’t need to be building more prisons and having more police, if society starts to give young people a decent upbringing (not a massive percentage living below the poverty line) and a real job to go to at the end of it!
And I’m not talking about a minimum waged job on zero hour contracts.
And angry violent parents who are regularly using ‘reasonable force’ to beat their kids is not going to turn these kids around, quite the opposite.
Lowering the NZ qualification standards – now some of the graduates don’t even know what subjects were in course they were on after “graduating”..
Soon the ‘NZ’ brand will be worthless under the Natz… worthless for educational quality, worthless for clean/green worthless for safety
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/327479/indian-graduates-had-'poor-knowledge'-of-courses
The sign on the kid’s bike – sell your villas, build roads
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C73UcvBW4AEzJPi.jpg
Many people were detained today. This is understandable – thieves are so protective of themselves. But all those who can not be detained against corruption. We are millions.
Alexey Navalny
Images.
On March 26, an anti-corruption action took place across Russia, the reason for which was the investigation of the Anti-Corruption Foundation about Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. On the streets were thousands of people (and in Moscow, apparently, more than ten thousand); Hundreds of them were detained by the police (the majority – again, in Moscow). One of the main features of today’s rallies is how massively they turned out in the regions. “Medusa” shows how anti-corruption actions looked in Vladivostok, Novosibirsk, Kirov, Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk – and in many other cities.
google translate
https://meduza.io/feature/2017/03/27/ot-peterburga-do-vladivostoka-vserossiyskaya-aktsiya-protesta-v-fotografiyah
well this should be interesting , quite a few votes in this for NZF
http://community.scoop.co.nz/2017/03/nz-first-repeal-of-anti-smacking-law-welcomed/
Yep still an underbelly of violence in our society. Weak selfish people who are still scared to deal with their own stuff so instead they take it out on children – yuck.
I dont quite understand the point of that marty.
Are you perhaps suggesting that those who think the anti smacking legislation was bad lawmaking that has not reduced violence against kids, are somhow engaging in or promoting violence against kids?
Certainly that was a strong campaign theme at the time that was harmful and improper then as it would be now.
If someone is a pro smacker and wants the law reversed then imo that is evidence that there is stuff that need to work on in a personal way and they should be given the resources and education to work through that stuff rather than smacking.
what about someone who is “anti smacker” and wants the law changed?
I think you are trying to deny the existence of these people!
my point is that Winston believes they exist and some of them will vote NZF for no other reason then to say “we exist”
Wants the law changed to… what?
very good question !
i guess to something that
1 reduces violence against kids
2 does not make policepersons judges
No, I’m literally trying to think of a permutation where someone can be “anti smacking” while supporting a repeal of the anti-smacking law.
Seeking to amend it, maybe by adjusting the police discretion, yeah, sure. But repealing it? How is that consistent with being “anti smacking”?
Ok I mispoke….i meant to say
people who are anti smacking and did not want the law passed and would like to see it repealed.
we exist !
because its a badly formed law passed by coercive process (coercion is violence too)
So you’re against smacking, you just want it to be legal?
An anti smacker wants the law changed? Tighter do you mean, less loopholes for the loopholes?
I’d need to see some strong independent evidence if someone was going to suggest the legislation caused MORE violence against children.
There was and is no ‘anti-smacking’ legislation. There was legislation that removed the defence that was used by some charged with physical assaults on children.
absolutely correct Bill
this is what we are discussing
New section 59 substituted
Section 59 is repealed and the following section substituted:
“59 Parental control
“(1) Every parent of a child and every person in the place of a parent of the child is justified in using force if the force used is reasonable in the circumstances and is for the purpose of—
“(a) preventing or minimising harm to the child or another person; or
“(b) preventing the child from engaging or continuing to engage in conduct that amounts to a criminal offence; or
“(c) preventing the child from engaging or continuing to engage in offensive or disruptive behaviour; or
“(d) performing the normal daily tasks that are incidental to good care and parenting.
“(2) Nothing in subsection (1) or in any rule of common law justifies the use of force for the purpose of correction.
“(3) Subsection (2) prevails over subsection (1).
“(4) To avoid doubt, it is affirmed that the Police have the discretion not to prosecute complaints against a parent of a child or person in the place of a parent of a child in relation to an offence involving the use of force against a child, where the offence is considered to be so inconsequential that there is no public interest in proceeding with a prosecution.”
looking at this my opinion is
1 the whole thing has been horribly misrepresented (by parties for and against!) and winston is poised to take advantage of that
2 section 4 is just wrong!
Here’s the main bit of the previous version:
Repealing the act that repealed the above legalises smacking.
“There was and is no ‘anti-smacking’ legislation”
That is why I say people who even use the term anti-smacking just like violence against children. The promote it by the use of the term, and want to perpetuate it by deliberate misleading the public, and debasing the debate.
It is a argument by some people who have no power, and get their jollies by beating up little children. I really do wish we lived in a society that was beyond that sort of thing.
But it would appear, that the child beaters want another round of us reminding them that they are, the scum of the earth.
“There was legislation that removed the defence that was used by some charged with physical assaults on children.”
that is also my recall that this was prompted by a series of cases where sec 59 was sucessfully used as a defense where children surffered injury.
1 I have a very dim view of lawmakers and laws that are a response to specific cases
2 at the time it was also suggested that sec 59 could have been altered somehow thus
“nothing in sec 1 shall be a defense where physical or mental harm is caused to a child.” Not proposing that as “the solution” just suggesting that that was maby not sufficiently explored.
But to get back to my first post, It looks like Winston is positioning NZF to collect on the flustercluck that was the passing of this amendment and perhaps continuing to deligitimise , misrepresent , and demonise those who hold a different view on it might not serve “the left” here.
Oh and just to be completely clear I am personally opposed to any form of violence as a “correction” , which includes much of what happens in our “corrections” services!
The legislation works – winnie is an idiot.
You just made winnie very happy there marty
How long can our high waged Auckland economy continue to be able to pay these prices for 366m2 sections ?? Yes $815k starting from !!! Or a 425m2 for $869k
http://www.realestate.co.nz/3039262
http://www.realestate.co.nz/3039270
http://www.realestate.co.nz/3028664
And No I am not a realestate agent using this has a means of target marketing my properties to all you wealthy land owners at The Std.
Hate to be The Govt if cards should tumble, and there are signs of tremors being felt in Jafaland.
Send troops in to shoot people. People, including civilians, will be shot.
That is what they do!
The term “collateral damage” was not invented for fun.
Oh are you suggesting this as a solution to the question Herodotus askes above?
Note the comment number. Reply to the OP.
If you send troops in to have a war, or aircraft to bomb a country, innocent people will get shot. I include most soldiers in this also.
Most are not volunteers!
The solution is to stop bombing countries just because you cannot drill their oil for free!
In other words, if you don’t like refugees, stop voting for Governments, including ours, that want to shoot and bomb the crap out of, their countries.
User pays, spreads to the military as they buy their own boots
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11825410
I was buying my own kit back in 90’s, hell we had to buy cam nets for our V8 Landrovers and even had to make our gun mounts for the GPMG’s / LSW C9’s so its not new.
If we want spare parts for the V8 Landrovers we went to the wreckers yard on Blenheim Rd in CHCH as it was quicker than ordering thru the system.
Ah, the joys of living in the 90’s not.
Were you reimbursed at all? Because if my employer expected me to fork out for the equipment I use for my job, I’d be presenting him with a bundle of receipts.
Nope, we were joking about it at reunion last Apr in Dunedin when some wag produced a couple of receipts (Doyles Ex Army Supplies in Manchester St I think) and I think we would’ve been wasting our time anyway. Things got real bad when OP Raidan kick off, but’s another story.
In Oz I can claim any kit that I buy back on tax, but I must admit my Macpac Bivi bag I brought back mids 90’s CHCH is still going strong after all years before Macpac move manufacturing overseas in the late 90s. Can’t knock NZ made goods when you can get it.
Agree. If we are going to order soldiers into harms way, then they should have the best gear possible.
However I do not think we should be ordering them to protect US corporate profits.
“If we are going to order soldiers into harms way, then they should have the best gear possible.”
We are always lending/ loaning the NZDF some of our kit for deployments or even for a bog standard exercise here in Oz either because NZDF has short fall in their SOE, don’t have the equipment full stop or they had to leave it behind as the Aircraft maxed out due to weight issues and hope catches up with on the next flight whenever that might be. Mind you when we come to NZ they loan us their cold weather gear as we don’t get that white stuff called snow in 95% of our training areas here in Oz.
Why does Winston want a referendum? We had one with an overwhelming result.
More money wasted on ‘consultation’ when the ‘people’ have spoken against the stupid law.
What referendum against what law has the people spoken?
Radio NZ just reported that 44% of properties in Auckland were bought by investors in February.
So with that in mind. Apart from TOPs, is anyone else even thinking about shifting tax away from income and on to wealth?
The Greens want a capital gains tax, generally but also specifically to address that aspect of the Ak housing crisis. They also want to reduce income tax by using a carbon tax to pay for government spending (can’t remember how that exactly works, you can look it up).
A capital gains tax is not the answer often their are so many ways for rich people to avoid it. If they really want to tax property they need something that is unrelated to a person’s income tax – more like a stamp duty which is pretty difficult to avoid not matter how rich you are.
A person that invests millions in property in NZ, does not live here and just never sells would not pay any tax under the capital gains model and that is increasingly what NZ is going to look like with offshore corporates taking over the rental supply. Let alone pretending to live there to avoid it etc etc.
UK has capital gains taxes, stamp duty, 17.5 VAT and still a massive housing shortage.
In fact the UK have every tax under the sun apart from a financial transaction tax.
They subscribe to the foreign investment model of anybody in the world being able to purchase a property in the UK.
Capital gains is 20th century thinking. They need to switch it up to what is really going on under globalism and why inequality is increasing.
Maybe a shift from taxing income from labour to taxing income from capital? Purely taxing wealth you need to be careful about people who are income poor but have wealth due to stupidly inflated asset values such as housing.
In any case I despair at the way TOP have stupidly discredited the whole idea by wanting to tax people on the value of their own family home, not just their ‘investment’ properties. Only an ex-neoliberal purist like Morgan could do something so unappealing to the public. (It makes me think he may not be so ‘ex’ after all)
The tax on the home (that he sees as an investment) would be a given percentage of something like 5% of its value with an initial value exempt from the tax altogether. And (the claim is) that cost would be more than off-set for the vast majority by a concomitant cut in income tax…and phased in over time so people can adjust their circumstances accordingly.
Now, I don’t think it’s perfect and I agree it might result in a few unfair cases coming to light (big house and no income). But then, what we have now is diabolically unfair to swathes of people who have no room for maneuver.
The family home cannot be excluded.
That just makes for a loophole that wealthy people can drive a bus through.
Ordinary home owners will be better off with TOP’s policy as the housing taxes will be offset by income tax/GST decreases.
To Bearded Git: In your comments when using the term investor, you are including/excluding which groups? eg. people on a visa permit, overseas students, etc
Heres the reference for you Johan
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/property/90861306/house-investors-hit-record-in-auckland-first-home-buyers-fall-corelogic
class war encouraged by 30 years of rogernomics and tax breaks for the rich.
landlords (not all but many) have been shitting on the poor for ever
Shamubeel Eaqub: Has anything changed for Generation Rent?
A doctor writes about how our shitty houses are killing us
and more
http://thespinoff.co.nz/media/26-03-2017/the-very-best-of-rent-week-on-the-spinoff/
Key’s last speech was a pathetic sob story, which could have been bettered by any number of recent migrant groups.
Huh? Haven’t caught up with the fact Micheal Wood is the MP for Mt. Roskill.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11826058
Toys for thugs.
soylent green anyone 🙂
Closer than you imagine.
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/rob-rhinehart-no-longer-requires-food
https://video.vice.com/en_us/video/life-after-food-soylent-motherboard/55cb6ae51ce00c683baee7a9
Terrorism – Not if your white.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/3/24/1646760/-If-the-terrorist-is-white-then-it-s-alright-Trump-tweets-about-London-victim-not-black-New-Yorker
“Salisbury School, near Nelson, intends to return to court if Education Minister Hekia Parata tries again to close its doors.
If it goes ahead, it will be the second time the minister has faced Salisbury-related legal action. Parata first attempted to close the school in 2012 but lost in the High Court.”
Rock on Salisbury School 😀 Proud of you all.
Salisbury would like parents and educationalists from across New Zealand to come forward with any stories of trying but failing to get a student into the IWS.
People are asked to email principal@salisbury.school.nz with their situation and contact details.
The baby boomer mafia and winston peters have really sunk to a new low.
Apparently because I was never given the bash by my parents i should be out robbing dairys because anyone who doesnt get hidings is a sociopath.
Mental!
Just like how banning begging gets rid of poverty and kicking people off of benifits doesn’t increase homeless.
The cradle to the grave generation who pulled the ladder up on every forth coming generation so we couldn’t receive the help they did. … this generation. …
They say we need to raise the pension age but not till they are all dead….
Ya own all the homes, never had to havea student loan and now you want us to work an extra two years but not you….
Oooh wouldn’t they be in for a shock once us millennials realized what a con they’ve played on us.
We have some of the lowest elderly poverty in the oecd world and highest childhood poverty. Mental.
Hard to find any common ground witj a generation that thinks greed is good and that everyone needs to harden up and wants to bash the kids.
Paul has a guest post on the Daily Blog today. He is introduced as the bloke who was banned from the Standard for three years for suggesting that left, liberals and progressives should work together to change the government. This is not how I recall it at all. I thought it was more to do with misrepresenting an author. Probably won’t bother going there for a while.
lol
I have a friend who spent some time talking about how happy they were after their breakup, not bovvered at all, yet somehow what the ex was doing always managed to sneak back into the discussion. That somehow seems relevant 🙂
*they’re better now, I’m pleased to report. It’s a process.
a very good post it was too, reccomended reading.
Pity him or Bradbury had to lie about ts then, although the irony of the lie is pretty funny.
Just got an email from the greens relating to donating.
The scary stuff was that just renting a prime bill board now costs $1,200, per month!
First Key didn’t want us to be tenants in our own country.
Now many can’t afford to be tenants in our own country.
Now it seems like people can’t even afford to rent a billboard in our own country!
Meanwhile Bill English is fine with some people stealing water from our own country.
WTF????
Who are Concept Consultants?
I am seriously annoyed with them, they are the enemy of New Zealanders,
this is their third hit on renewable energy , They are dishonest spindoctor scum
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/201838077/report-electricity-technology-will-harm-the-poor
It will be odd for those who get serious about fully insulating their homes in order to conserve energy, and install solar water heating. Their drop in electricity use will be penalised by having to pay much more for electricity. So the best action for Electricity Suppliers is for us to use heaps of power, leave the windows open, tear out insulation, have long showers and pay huge power bills.
Of course the more people who use solar energy the longer the power delivery system would have before paying for upgrades. Surely?
But this is the free market mate, its more efficient this way /sarc
I think that its the owners (overseas fund managers) of our transmission network protecting their (not ours) investment. but hey we need investment. dont we?
> I think that its the owners (overseas fund managers) of our transmission network protecting their (not ours) investment
Nope
antoine go to their website and look at the bio,s of these people. They got us into this mess in the first place. We have a revolvind door industry executivepolicy advisors situation here. what they are doing is immoral and anti democratic. Their “reports” are not intended to inform at all but to influence policy for their personal and sector profit.
Hmm
I went to the website and had a look at them
Which one do you think is the most dodgy?
> So the best action for Electricity Suppliers is for us to use heaps of power
That’s right, you can’t expect an old style electricity supplier to encourage you to use less power (Although some of them actally do)
> Of course the more people who use solar energy the longer the power delivery system would have before paying for upgrades. Surely?
No, solar on its own won’t delay upgrades to the power network, because the sun doesnt shine at the times when we need power most. Solar + battery is another matter.
A.
I love how they’ve mastered the art of feigning concern for the poor. “This new electricity technology will harm poor people… the very same people we don’t give a toss about for 364 days of the year, but today, and because we’re being paid a lot of money, please join us in doing a terrible job of pretending to feel sympathy for the less fortunate. Thank you.”
Yep the poor people that are being gauged with line costs in rural areas.
Oh yeah, the poor people that run on glow bug.
oh yeah, the poor people that simply gave up on electricity and cook on a barbie and have candles.
They are these guys, http://www.concept.co.nz/.
I had a look at it. No, it’s not a hit on renewable energy. It’s pointing out some problems with the way electricity is priced. For instance, if someone had an electric car, there’s not enough incentive for them to charge it overnight (as opposed to evening when the demand for power is highest).
A.
Canada to legalise cannabis.
Aside from a couple of times in uni I’ve never touched the stuff but this is eminently sensible. I really do think NZ should follow suit.
in my new home, we had a holiday home rented by out of townees for a week.
the first night they were at said property they started a fire, at 4.30 am the alarm goes of, and Mr. Voluntary Firefighter drives of screeching tires into the night.
Several hours later he comes back with the news that hey could not save the house, but managed to save the property next door, that there is a report of two people missing and they were hoping that ones it was save to go into the wreck they would not find these two guys and their dogs. – they did not in the end to the relieve of everyone.
Figures the fire was lit deliberately, the guys were cooking meth, somehow a fire started and they could not stop it (fire extinguisher near by the initial burn site), so they started a fire in each room and ran away.
Two days later a big headline in the local rural paper….Coppers found a dozen of marijuana plants and took them off the market ohmygosh the war on certain drugs is working. !!!!!!!!!!
Priorities. We surely have them.